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I think I need MSD Philly87's help.(Rusty dist)

sponsoredbydad

sponsoredbydad

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Does anybody else have this problem or is it isolated to me? This cap and rotor is only 5 mos old and the rust is the same age as well. I can not keep this dist from rusting to save it's life. I have taken it totally apart(3 times to be exact) wire wheeled it, sanded it, and smothered it with dielectric grease but to no avail. Along the same lines why is the cap corrosion so bluey and why has every cap I have changed out had the center electrode burnt to almost not there, as well as the rotor cap where it contacts looks like it's been spot welded. When it's fresh it works like the dickens but is becoming quite spendy & time consuming having to replace and clean this up as often as I have been.

Chris

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Phil aka philly87 is who you're looking for. :thumb:
 
:yikes: i live in the rust belt and my msd stuff didnt look that bad when i use to run it on my mud/snow wheelin truck

dam somthin wrong in msd land on that one.
 
Here are a couple pics of the very first time I encountered this issue about a year ago. This is aprox 7 months after I finished the truck.(I know these look like the same pictures but I swear there not)

Rusty Dist 01.jpg

Rusty Dist 03.jpg
 
I have seen that before, and its not the distributor. But for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

I want to say its a PCV problem with the engine letting exhaust fumes exit through the dizzy, but I'm not sure.

Either that, or its ozone building up under the cap. That stuff would corrode wood......
I had a rough day today, came home and crashed early but the pain in my arm woke me up.
Typing this is making it worse. If I can remember what it was that causes that, I'll repost.
 
yeah, looks like moisture in the crankcase...
 
yeah, we're not talking milkshake emulsification here.... check your pcv, oil fill, etc for signs of it tho, white slimey buildup....

what thermostat and operating temp on the motor?
 
I'm still betting the motor is running too cold...
 
Chris,

Moisture, moisture, moisture!!! Did you soak this thing in salt water? :doah:

In all seriousness I've never seen a distributor look that bad. In fact I forwarded these pics to our customer service / tech department and they haven't either.

I'd love to get that distributor back here in my hands to see it.

How old is this distributor? I know you said this happened after only 7 months of use but I'd like to see it and have the date code off of it. There is a letter and number stamped into the side of the aluminum housing of the distributor. if you can get that for me that would be great.

We did make a change to the internal coatings a few years back and if you're anything like me, I buy parts little by little and save them up for my build. I'm curious if this was before the change or not.

There is definitely a moisture problem here though whether it be from washing the engine, condensation or something else. Either way we'll figure it out and make it right.

If you can get me some info and possibly send me the distributor that would be great.

Let me know what I can do to make this as easy as possible for ya.

-Phil
MSD
 
here is my dist i am working on same problem .

and fyi car just come from cali . even tho it now lives in ny state.

must be a cali thing :whistle:

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1st off Sorry for dropping the ball on not keeping up on this issue with you guys. OK so after taking this dizzy totally apart and cleaning it up REAL good I put it back together and cracked the reluctor:doah: I got a new one installed it and painted everything that was metal, put it back in and it's been what about 2 months and every thing seems to be ok as of now. I will pull the cap in about 2 weeks (After I get back from Dumont on Halloween)

Ryoken the thermostat is a 190 and unless I'm pushing it real hard it doesn't go much above that. Checked for any signs of water (PCV - Oil fill) doesn't seem to be any. The hood is also on now and has been since the refurbishment so we will see if the hood being off had any hand in this .

Phil I will get those numbers next time I pull it. Yes this dist is at least 4-5 years old(I think):dunno:
 
All that rust is from crankcase moisture. I'm betting you don't have a properly set-up PCV system. You should have a PCV valve in one valve cover and the other should have a hose that goes up to the air cleaner housing with a small filter inside the filter housing that the hose attaches to. If you have an open breather on either valve cover this is what is causing your issue since the PCV system can no longer work as designed. Also, the carbon tracking on the terminals is usually caused by too much resistance which could be from bad plugs, wires, or running too rich.
 
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