Moisture in distributor cap

[northcave]

Hi Chaps I posted early about a problem of the car warming up and then stopping after about 5 mins.

I start it for a little while and remove the distributor cap to find moisture so I'll replace the cap and arm. However behind the Rotor Arm is a plastic plate with a little rubber seal around the edge. I think I should probably replace this bit also but does anyone now what it is and or the name of it for me to give to GSF?

Cheers

Tim

 

[television]

Is the part here

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.434&CT=M&cat=505&SID=15&SGR=060&SGN=04

 

[northcave]

Yeah its 17 and 14 thanks!

Also I went to have a look at the cap and ring I removed yesterday and it still has moisture on it. I realised it isn't actually water. It must be some sort of grease since it isn't evaporation. I'm assuming this would cause the same problem maybe?

P.s do you work at the heritage centre? Did you know a bloke called James Roy who worked there a while back?

 

[television]

Yeah its 17 and 14 thanks!

Also I went to have a look at the cap and ring I removed yesterday and it still has moisture on it. I realised it isn't actually water. It must be some sort of grease since it isn't evaporation. I'm assuming this would cause the same problem maybe?

P.s do you work at the heritage centre? Did you know a bloke called James Roy who worked there a while back?

They will be MB or Bosch parts only.

The condensation is a problem,,do make sure that the sump breather pipes are all clear, that may help to reduce it.

No I have never worked anywhere,,I am unemployable

 

[northcave]

Maybe you should start a MB forum of you own charging £5 per post to resolve problems. I'd pay it

 

[northcave]

An update... I thought it would be worth simply wiping off the existing moisture / grease and giving the whole unit a general clean to see what happened. Fixed the problem totally. I don't know how long for but interested how such a tiny thing can make the car from totally unusable to perfectly fine.

Many thanks for advice. Will also inspect the breathing pipe.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

An update... I thought it would be worth simply wiping off the existing moisture / grease and giving the whole unit a general clean to see what happened. Fixed the problem totally. I don't know how long for but interested how such a tiny thing can make the car from totally unusable to perfectly fine.

Many thanks for advice. Will also inspect the breathing pipe.

Thanks for the feedback. Always good to hear of a success story. If condensation had been the issue, now is the time of year for it to emerge, cold mornings, worst if the car is not used everyday - even if garaged.

Hope you have solved this, but it would of course be of interest to know if there are further developments.

 

[northcave]

Well it is strange because the the car is kept in a warm garage and wasn't driven in the rain for a least 4 months and still had the problem. I am unsure it is moisture though. It looks like droplets of moisture / condensation but they don't evaporate. When wiped away they feel more like grease but totally colourless.

This would explain why the car can be left for months and yet the problem still occurs. A simply wipe away has fixed it rather than replacing cap and rotor arm. I expect this will last another 12-18 months before this grease builds up again maybe?

 

[BusterB]

Hi. I also have the same problem. If I do not use thje car for 5 days or so, after about 5 mins, it stalls, I then have to wipe the moisture from the distributor cap and the car is fine again. What is the moisture and where is it coming from ? I have fitted a new cap.

 

[dieselman]

The moisture is out of the engine and air. As the engine warms it evaporates out of the engine and condenses on the coldest part, which is now the distributor cap, hence it runs fora few minutes.

Make sure the thermostat is bringing the engine up to the correct temperature quickly and the breather pipes are clear.

As an aside, I think heated garages encourage water to condense on cars, because the car is cooler than the surrounding air and surfaces. Better to have the car warm and the rest of the garage cold.

 

[television]

I have been thinking on this for a long time that if you had a small 12 compressor with a tube going into the cap it could dry it out, MB's are the worst off all for this

 

[dieselman]

If the engine is indeed getting to temperature and still has this problem drill a hole through the cap in an unexposed position, it lets the vapour out.

 

[northcave]

A little more feedback on this. Mine takes about 1500 miles for it the cap to need wiping out again but here is a little more feedback that might help someone else with similar issues.

Last time i merely removed the distributor cap and wiped it out and cleaned the rotor arm. This worked a little but it didn't fix the issue nearly enough to reliable.

In order to get it working 100% i have to also remove the back plate (unsure of correct name) and wipe it down. I usually also use white spirit or washing up liquid to clean the cap and plate as it appears that the moisture is a combination of moisture and some other oil / solvent.

Bottom line is if you bother taking the cap off then make sure you spend an extra 5 min removing the plate and cleaning that front and back also.

 

[television]

It is all fumes from the oil in the sump, hence the oily texture, PTFE or silicon could help as well, it need some sort of felt washer over the top bearing or some form of seal

 

[danger bollards]

spray a little wd40 inside the cap and wipe over. happens on the RV8s some times.