Yellow Powder inside dist. cap...car won't fire.

[rennch]

Hi all,

My 3.0 SC Motor will turn over, but won't fire. I pulled the distributor cap to find a bunch of yellow powder in there. Could these be related? I heard the yellow powder is caused by severe arcing, and is a sulphur byproduct. Should I bag my ignition system and go with a new cap and rotor?

Also...if it is the dist. cap/rotor combo...what would cause it to arc so badly?

Thanks,

mto

[Wil Ferch]

At least clean up all the contact points and try again...or simply put a new cap and rotor in...you'll need new ones soon anyway from the sounds of it.
---Wil Ferch

[Jim Sims]

Sulphur? What would be the source? Unless you driving in a very polluted industrial atmosphere I'm not sure where one would get the sulphur unless it came from the rotor/cap plastic. Does the inside top of the cap or the top edge of the rotor or the bottom socket (hole) of the rotor appear to be mechanically damaged? I'm speculating that the powder is ground up Bakelite plastic or what ever the cap and rotor are formed out of. If there is mechanical damage a new cap and rotor are in order. Make sure the rotor is properly seated on the distributor shaft. Cheers, Jim

[rennch]

I was told that sulphur deposits are left when severe arching happens inside the distributor cap. That's not totally out of the question...it was really worn out. I replaced it, but it was only part of the problem. It turns out I have an issue with the 14pin plug that comes from the front of the car. When I jiggle it, the car abruptly shuts down. So...it looks like I've got some wiring woes to look forward to.

Yay! (ugh...)

Thanks all,

mto