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moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 10:54 am
by waterdog
ok guys here is my problem... i dont drive the truck on water(often) but there is alwasys condensation on the distributor cap ,,it may be coming from inside the dist. itself??, so it get light rust everywhere inside the distrubutor, points get rusted.etc...my question is, can i drill a hole on the dist cap to displace any condensation out of the cap?? (i do have civilian conversion) i dont see a vent on my dist.... why is keeping a little condensation inside the dist cap???? thanks

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:12 am
by Jimm391730
No matter where you live, it always gets cooler at night. Cooler air cannot "hold" as much water vapor so the dewpoint rises; anything that is colder than the dewpoint will create condensation. To make matters worse, as the air cools it becomes more compact so anything that has an air pocket will suck in this cooler, more moist air. This is especially bad inside the gas tank if it is partially empty; the more air space inside means more air is drawn in, and any condensation will fall to the bottom of the gasoline where it cannot escape.

If you live in a humid area all this just gets worse. I suspect that the rust you are getting is just from exposure to moisture in the air. I wouldn't worry about minor surface rust; wet everything down with WD40 periodically to displace the water and give the metal some protection.

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:30 am
by waterdog
yes is humid down here!, but my problem is that this rust build up in the dist. shaft lobe,( where the points touch. dunno exact name). so this cam have grease+rust makes my points lose their correct gap, every 3 or 4 weeks using the truck once a week makes me go inside the dist clean up all the rust ans re gap the point,,, i dont think points should be maintain that often!!

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 11:45 am
by Andre
sounds like another prime opportunity to install a solid state ignition system. PinzSSI.com

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 11:55 am
by compunerdy
That is what I am going to do..

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 2:14 am
by spandit
I installed MegaJolt on mine - worked a treat!

Re: moisture on dist cap.....

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:41 pm
by Buzz
Years ago a friend of mine showed me how to put on layer of electrical tape around the bottom edge of my civilian distributor cap. It helped to act like a gasket where the cap is clamped down on the plate. A few months ago I drove the truck through the rain for forty minutes. When we got to our destination it sat for a couple hours outside in the damp. When I went hop in and start it, I don't think I had more than two cylinders firing.

The second thing I checked (after the idle cut off valves) was the distributor. The tape had become dry and brittle. The inside was coated with condensation. I wiped it off, cleaned the contacts, and put new tape on. It cranked up perfectly.

Now, I did put on a new distributor cap last week ; but, I also put that tape around the edge. - Buzz