Ignition miss after wet weather....

[takza]

Have as issue with the wagon where if it has rained a couple of days and the car hasn't been driven...it will start OK...but until driven a few miles it will miss and almost stall....especially at low RPMs.

I recently replaced the cap...rotor...plug wires...no crossed wires or any touching anything. I'm thinking it's condensation inside the cap...but this also happened with the previous cap...which was why it was replaced.

Wanting to try soaking the insides of the dist with WD40...letting it dry and hoping that keeps the moisture away.

Could this be a sign of a failing igniter? As mentioned...the problem goes away after a few miles.

[4wdchico]

I found a large voltage drop in the green round connector that holds the hot lead to the distributor. Took it all apart and cleaned it up & tightened up the female spade connectors and the dizzy was once again getting full power. Not a lot of fun probing for the release tabs on the brass connectors inside the green plastic parts, but not horrible.

You could also disconnect, clean and tighten all the connections to the igniter & coil. Just be careful on those parts inside the dizzy, they might be getting a bit crispy with age.

[Petros]

I would not use WD40, not as good as either LPS1 or Corrosion-X. Clean all the contacts and check for contact as 4wdchico states, and than soak in LPS1, including the inside of the distributor and all the wires and spark plus, etc, let dry for a hour or so, and reassemble. Tuner cleaner should work too, but i do not have any experience with it.

This problem I think comes from moisture trapped in the contacts with corrosion. It blocks the contact until it heats up (from the resistance), and drives out the moisture from the contact, and than runs normal after that. Keeping the moisture out with LPS1 or similar, will prevent it from misfiring since it will improve electrical contact and displace the moisture.

I once had a co-working drive through a big puddle that killed the engine (from splashing on the electrical system). He just sprayed LPS1 all over the outside of the spark plugs, wires and cap, and it started right up.

[4wdchico]

I have been thinking about getting some electrical contact enhancer like these products:
http://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/Acce ... 35151.html
http://store.caig.com/

Crazy spendy, but I have heard from folks in the audio recording industry that they can really help optimize electrical connections. I have more research to do before I purchase some of this stuff, when I do I'll post a review with some before and after voltage drop #'s.

[Neu]

I've had one of my tercesl die on me several times after hitting large amounts of water. These distributor caps are pretty terrible at keeping moisture out.

[splatterdog]

CAIG chemicals are awesome. Fixed many a connection problem with Deoxit. Costs waaay less than "nano fluid". Nano fluid is also conductive so you have to be careful that collateral connections aren't made. I've used deoxit on socketed IC's(old style "chip") that couldn't be pulled from it's socket due to deterioration of the legs on the IC. Not a problem on an old terc, but can be a big problem on 30 year old full size arcade video game logic boards.

[takza]

I had a small tube of computer contact enhancer or whatever...had the name "gold" in it...but sure didn't pay $150 for it! Used it quite a bit till it was used up.

I could probably get by just physically cleaning all contacts and using some di-electric grease.

Once owned an AH Sprite that would just quit running when out driving around and it rained...being a total newbee...I was getting real depressed about it too.

[ARCHINSTL]

Once owned an AH Sprite that would just quit running when out driving around and it rained...being a total newbee...I was getting real depressed about it too.

OT, but since you mentioned the Sprite - those BMC "A" Series motors used in Morrises, Austins and all Spridgets cleverly had the distributor mounted at the bottom of the block where a heavy dew would kill the electrons. After countless stops after going through puddles, I finally figured out how to put a car's inner tube section over it. Always wondered why a wet island like the UK put the dist down so low...but then, it WAS a BritMobile...
Tom M.

[Neu]

Once owned an AH Sprite that would just quit running when out driving around and it rained...being a total newbee...I was getting real depressed about it too.

OT, but since you mentioned the Sprite - those BMC "A" Series motors used in Morrises, Austins and all Spridgets cleverly had the distributor mounted at the bottom of the block where a heavy dew would kill the electrons. After countless stops after going through puddles, I finally figured out how to put a car's inner tube section over it. Always wondered why a wet island like the UK put the dist down so low...but then, it WAS a BritMobile...
Tom M.

it's because brit's spend 75% of the time on styling, 15% on mechanic engineering, and 50% is tea breaks.