I have a 1981 Camaro with the 3.8 litre 229 cubic inch V-6. I have completely gone through this car and thanks to Classic Industries, a good chunk of money and a lot of work it's looking pretty damn good. I do have one big pain in the ass problem though. Every couple of weeks or so I burn out the condenser in the distributor. No warning, no running rough no sign of trouble just shut it off and the next time I try to start it not a damn bit of spark. Pop the cap and rotor off slap a new condenser in and away she goes. Anyone ever heard of this problem or had it happen to them? Anyone got any solid advise on what the problem might be?
81 Camaro (3.8) ignition problem.....help needed.
Jul 13, 2004
4 Replies
Condenser? You don't have an HEI distributor under the hood? Are you talking about the ignition module?
...Ron
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68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert
The HEI still has a condenser capacitor to reduce ignition noise and prolong the life of the module. A cap will lessen the load that the points see on a standard ignition. I suppose it would do the same for the module on an HEI.
Correct. The capacitor is wired directly to a plastic module that plugs into the ignition module.
My bad that should have read condenser.
is wired directly to a plastic module that
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