My 911 doesn't like rain!
 

It's been raining here in South Florida for a couple of days. Last night, I went to dinner with my GF and when we got out of the restaurant, Veronica, my 911, would not start. It turn over, sputtered every now and then, but that's it. The AAA sent a flatbed to pick it up, and we brought it to my GF's garage. I left it in there with the decklid open to dry out, and this morning, it started, a bit reluctantly.
I have new Magnecors in there, so it's not the ignition wires.
Has anyone had this esperience? Any idea what might have caused it? My car is an 87 with 57K miles on it. ANy help or ideas are much appreciated.

My guess is a hairline crack in the distributor cap.

Remove the breather hoses and check for water.
I had the same problem with my 84 and it turned out that the rain water was working its way up from the charcol (sp?) cannister underneath the right rear fender.

Yes, the rain has been rather amazing here lately. Have had similar problems - I ran a small bead of silicone sealant around base of distributor cap - seemed to solve problem. I also carry a small can of WD 40 and will spray it on inside and outside of distributor and coil if I have issues.

i've had similar issues, like others have said, water getting to the distributor cap or rotor button cap

Silicone spray on and in cap will cure the problem.

Read my original post...South Florida

Seems like the rain goes right through the grill on the rear deck and onto the distributor. Anybody improvise a shield over that area?

Diverdan

funny, when I wash my car, it starts up much better than usual.

mclmk8d - I hope it is water in the distributor and rotor. However, in my car, one of my injectors was leaking and water flowed right into the cylinder.

That said, I don't like the design of the deck lid with the holes, anyone recommend a fix to keep rain or carwashing from getting in, but STILL getting enough air flow to cool the engine properly?

If the boots on you plug wires are properly sealed with dielectric grease they should try to pop back off because of the air trapped inside them. If they are sealing that good you need to 'burp' them to get them to want to stay in place.

Pull the boot a bit towards the end of the cable and lightly grease the cable so when you push the boot back into position it is sealed with dielectric grease. Add a light touch of grease to the boot where it seals against the cap. Do the same for the plug end. Done correctly the wires should pretty much work under water.

Sealing the distributor cap is a bit if a quandary. If the cap is truly sealed you can have troubles with ionization causing the spark to jump all over. 'Mostly sealed' seems to be the best compromise.

Spraying the outside of cap and the surrounding area with silicone spray will help keep water from hanging around to cause problems. I do not recommend spraying anything inside the cap unless it is an attempt to get a non running car going again. Clean is the best option.