i did infact replace the cap/rotor, the problem still persists. if it is i= nfact a damp distributor, is it safe to assume theres soem crack in there? adn t= he whole thign needs to be replaced? what about the coil? im not familiar with where that is in relation to everything
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Not if you just put a new one on there. Highly improbable it is cracked, but not impossible. I would take a good look at it just to rule that out.
what hole thing. we're only talking about the distributor cap, with the electrodes in it that accept the spark from the reluctor/rotor. That's the only thing that usually goes bad, when they crack, have a carbon trace down the inside of them ( path to ground for the spark ), or the electrodes burn down to the point the gap between the rotor and distributor cap gets too large for the spark to jump it reliably.
The coil is a low voltage to high voltage transformer, with a few heavy windings on the primary side and an enormous amount of thin wire windings on the secondary ( output ) side. This is how you get your boost of voltage up into the thousands of volts range which is necessary to fire the spark plugs across an air gap.
If your coil is ok, your rotor/distributor cap should fire off a spark to each electrode. That electrode is directly connected to the wires that go directly to each spark plug.
So you have hi voltage being -distributed- ( ergo, the name distributor ) to the different wires and spark plugs as the rotor in the distributor goes round and round. Absent that high voltage, NOTHING will run. The engine will turn from the starter motor, but that's it. Nothing more. You might be at an in-between stage where the coil pack or HV coil is going bad and is _borderline_ putting out enough voltage to run the spark plugs. Result will be cylinder misfires and then eventual complete failure. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ok i meant, i replaced the cap and rotor about 3 months ago, the symptoms still persist. by "whole thing" i meant the entire distributor, as opposed to only the cap and rotor. thanks for your explanation of the coil and such, i guess im still waiting on the car to have problems again so i can first determine if its even lack of spark.
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No I don't think you would need to do that. Depending on your vehicle, there are so many vintage technologies still around it is impossible for me to -know- what is in/on each engine anymore, never mind by model, but even YEAR, as time marches on.
Actually that is quite simple to do, believe it or not. You can buy a little test device at an auto parts store that uses the electromagnetic field around each plug wire as a source of energy to drive a Light emitting diode *aka LED*
It is a good idea to keep in mind there is enough hi voltage in those wires to send your heart into a tailspin and knock you off your feet. When using a device such as this, you would be advised to attach it to an insulated rod of some kind. Glass is a good insulator, so is rubber, some plastics.
Then you can just hold this little led glow plug next to each wire and verify that it is taking a full charge to the plugs each time it illuminates. do this for each wire, and your question is answered.
You will notice it will fire each wire during one revolution of the rotor/reluctor in the distributor. If you find a dead wire, then suspect the _wire_ before assuming anything else is bad. You can measure the resistance of the wires with an ohm meter. They usually have a carbon thread going down the middle of them to cut down on spurious pulse radio frequency emissions which would interefere with many communications devices, so the wires are rather fragile in that respect. No sharp bends. Handle with caution, and NEVER TOUCH THEM while the engine is running. ever.
But you will see in less than 60 seconds if all your wires are firing with this little light. It isn't easy to see in bright sunlight, so dusk is a good time to do this, and use a flashlight to guide you from wire to wire.
Again, hands away from the dang wires. And wear rubber soled shoes/boots when doing this. And keep one hand in your pocket at all times, IOW don't use your free hand to lean on the car body.
We're talking a LOT of volts here, enough to knock you to the ground, and if your heart is in less than perfect shape, well, let's not go there.
Lg
sounds skurry! i actually got the contraption where you take the plug wire,stick it in the contraption deal, ground it, crank engine, if you see spark, good. no spark, bad. but my car has not been acting up lately so when it will ill give it a shot to see if it is a spark problem or not. thank you again very much for the information. i will check the dist cap again tomorrow just to make sure it didnt crack somehow in 3 months...
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