96 Silverado 5.7, how to prevent moisture under distributor cap?
I bought this truck 1 month ago. This morning it wouldn't start and the weather has been cool, misty for two days now. I drove the truck in the rain once and it was acting like the timing was off. What's a good way to remove and dry the cap during lunch?
Update:On Chevy forum there was a suggestion of Wire Dry, works similar to WD-40. After working on it tonight we'll see if this fixes the problem.
Comments
You have to unscrew it, don't remember exactly on that car as to how many, using long phillips screwdriver. Don't disturb the wires as you lift it. Take a good look at the cap. Look for cracks, missing pieces etc. Look at the electrodes, is there excessive carbon on them? If you see nothing wrong with the cap, wipe it out with a dry rag, paper towel. Now place it back on the distributor, it only fits one way. Should sort of click into place and not move at all, not even slightly. Then tighten the screws a little bit at a time so that you tighten it down uniformly, make sure cap stays seated. I'm thinking that either the cap wasn't seated correctly and maybe cracked when the screws were tightened or just wasn't tightened enough to begin with. Make sure when you have it off that there is no condensation on the rotor either. If so carefully wipe that off too. Also look for carbon scoring on the metal tip of rotor. If you see a lot of carbon build up on either or both, the truck could use a good tune up. Good Luck, hope I was of some help.
Spray a coat of WD-40 under the distributor cap.
The WD 40 idea works i've done it before and if doesn't harm anything.