My distributor cap and rotor seem to 'wear out' quickly. Within months the cap's contacts are pitted and/or burned and the rotor's tip burned and/ or worn.
The engine runs smooth. I guess the computer adjusts. But I probably could improve mileage.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
tia,
Mel P.
96 Cherokee - 4.0 LSome pitting is normal. Improving mileage on a 4.0 L Cherokee is a pipe dream. If you think the wear is more than normal, then the only way to tell really is to have someone hook the vehicle up to an ignition system analyzer. Otoh, if it's not throwing codes ("Check Engine" light coming on) then it's probably working alright. What you should be looking for in the distributor cap is cracks and carbon tracking, signs of a high voltage short. You can also look at it when the engine is running at night. Sometimes if you do that you see sparking around the distributor, coil or plug wires. That is a sign of trouble.
Cheers,
Earle
Should I try buying better cap & rotor?
Yes, some of the ignition parts on the market these days are junk.
Try getting a quality set of points!
Jeff DeWitt
Mel P. wrote:
There are a 'bunch' of mis-matched cap and rotor sets out there! I even bought an expensive Accel cap and rotor and that SOB burned out in a couple months.
The rotors are too short so they arc out very fast, even the expensive rotor was over 1/8" too short.
I gave up after spending big bucks on parts and went back to OEM from the $tealership. Those parts match and last!
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > My distributor cap and rotor seem to 'wear out' quickly.
That would explain the increased ignition RF interference to all my radios after I replaced the cap and rotor.
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