Tune up

[v2vera]

OK guys so heres the issue.. about 2 months ago I changed the plugs, wires, distubitor cap and rotor. DIDNT change the engine control module ( i believe thats what it is called). I decided since i did all of that might as well change that now.. I went in to do that today and behold the rotor was half gone! the inside of the distrubitor cap was burnt..im talking about the little funnel part where that little spring and gasket goes....and that gasket with the spring thing was half burnt as well..What can be happening? Is the spark to hot?....forgive me if I sound like an idiot but im not an expert and learning as I go.. Thanks for any advice..

 

[pontiacgp]

if you have half the rotor missing then the weights and springs must have come apart...

 

[v2vera]

Well I went to the local autozone and replaced the damaged parts...Should that fix it? or should I be worried about something else?

 

[pontiacgp]

when you took the rotor off were the advance weights and springs in place?

 

[Bonnewagon]

Got a pic of the damage? No such thing as too hot a spark. The coil will only produce as much voltage as needed to jump the plug gap. Sounds like you didn't tighten down the rotor screws or the rotor cracked, or something came loose underneath, like the advance mechanism PontiacGP is asking about. In that case, the coil will put out mega-voltage to jump whatever gap was created by the rotor being loose or out of line. So just verify the advance mechanism is intact and tight, no excessive end play on the distributor shaft, and the cap and rotor are installed correctly and tightly.

 

[v2vera]

Heres what I was suprised to see just after a few months..

 

[olds307 and 403]

Do you have the ground strap in the cap for the coil? I actually melted a coil when I left it out. Wow, that is bad. Inspect everything closely and don't forget the ground strap.

 

[v2vera]

Yea everything seems to be fine..but after looking at it longer I did notice that one of the plug wires was being pinched by the smog pump..Didnt see that before.. I hope that was the issue. I changed the wire and since i changed all the damaged parts i hope thats it.. I will keep an eye on it.. every week or so..funny thing is I didnt feel it misfiring so that makes me wonder if it was the wire..The ground strap is there and nice and tight..Only reason I noticed was because I was going to change the module.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Man that's some serious arcing going on. What condition was the carbon "button" that sticks through the cap? I've seen them be defective and the spark arcs around it causing the heat damage your pics show. As for not feeling it, if the spark was jumping from the coil to the rotor, bypassing the "button", the plugs would fire as normal, but the heat from the arcing would eventually waste the cap and rotor. Something similar happened to a 78' Camaro, and like you, no one felt anything. On the Jersey Turnpike the rotor broke apart allowing spark to go wherever it felt like and the end result was 2 rods out the side of the block!

 

[pontiacgp]

it could be a defective coil heating up...