Damp Starting

Oct 20, 2003 4 Replies

I have a 1994 Rover 214SEi. When there has been a prolonged period of rain or where it is foggy, my car has trouble starting.



A quick blast of WD40 on the dizzy cap does the trick. A longer term solution is a spray of Waxoyl on the the dizzy cap.



Is there a permanent solution to such a problem?



Cheers Paul, Wakefield


If this really does the trick, then the spark must be tracking across the cap either to the wrong plug or to earth.

If a new cap doesn't cure it then it must be a dodgy plug lead(s) or routing offering an easier path to earth than via the correct plug.

Are all the ignition components perfect and adjusted correctly? e.g plug gaps, good leads, etc. If not, there may be one or more items which are causing a problem which you are temporarily solving with WD40.

Rob Graham

Rob Graham

The message from "Paul Fixter" contains these words:

My guess would be the leads are porous and leaking leccy when damp. Set of decent new leads and clean up everything else nicely and wipe over with water repellent like WD40.

No. Replace the dizzy cap and rotor arm. This is a well known problem, the modded rotor arm carries a white dot on it, and the cap is now made from a different material. When you refit the leads to the new cap ensure the metal conductors under the rubber boot push right onto the cap contacts rather than just pushing til the rubber is on "somewhere near".

Tim..

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