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Potential Astra F distributor failure?

Hi All,

I've a 1992 Opel Astra F with 201K miles on clock. Recently, the average fuel economy has dropped from 50mpg to 44 mpg and in cold damp conditions, the car is sometimes very difficult to start if left standing for more than a few days. It idles smoothly though. While inspecting the ignition electrics, I removed the distributor cap and noticed that the inside of it was covered in a reddish-brown dust. Where might this have come from? (I would have expected maybe some black carbon dust.) Two of the spark plug HT pins in the cap are also irregularly worn. The rotor arm is fine, but I only replaced this a few years ago. Should there be a carbon brush in the middle that springs out to the centre of the rotor arm, or is this a contactless arrangement like the spark plug pins? All I see is a worn carbon stub, which is flush with the cap wall.

I think I need a new cap (inexpensive) anyway, but do I need a whole new distributor (quite expensive given the mileage)? It's a Delco distributor, which I believe gave much trouble in early Astra Fs, and was quickly superseded by a better design, so my chances of finding a second-hand one at this stage might be slim. All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks, John.

Reply to
JAH
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the brush should be spring loaded IIRC (the top of the rotor arm is just flat, so the carbon brush has to touch it somehow) designs with a solid lump of carbon in the cap have a springy leaf on top of the rotor arm.

those distribs were a bit touchy, but it sounds like yours just needs a new cap and arm.

Mrcheerful

Reply to
MrCheerful

JAH formulated the question :

I don't know that car, but all that I have seen have some sort of springy contact between centre and rotor arm. It sounds as if your has worn out/jammed and needs to be replaced. It would cause poor starting and poor mpg.

I would guess at the red dust being the result of burnt brass from the arc between rotor and the four contacts for the plugs.

Try a new cap. Also check for excess play on the shaft of the bit which rotates in the distributer.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Thus spake JAH ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

Not sure if the same has happened to you, but I had a distributor bearing seize up when I had a 1990 Astra 1.4L. The car coughed and *nearly* died but then picked up and kept going. What had happened was that when the bearing seized, the shaft kept turning in the wrecked bearing housing, and the motor kept running although somewhat unevenly. I only discovered the actual problem when I took the distributor cover off a week or so later (!) to find a load of metal swarf inside from the destroyed bearing. I got a mechanic friend to look at it, which was when the seized bearing was diagnosed. He was as amazed as I was that the car had kept going!

Reply to
A.Clews

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