Engine Fire - Distributor Related - Pics Included

[ERA Chas]

Thanks to Pat and Bob M.

There's virtually no way for any of us to foresee a catastrophic part failure like that other than to change many parts every year. But that's still no guarantee.

The REAL lesson of the story is to NEVER leave the driveway with a leak of any kind-especially fuel. Have to be diligent about that to prevent this sort of thing.

[Woodz428]

What did the rotor look like?? If the contact had just broken off, I wouldn't think it would have sprayed the carbon in such fine pieces. Was the center of the rotor offset some and caused it to "whittle" the carbon down. I've pulled rotors that were slightly bent off to one side, never thought about it doing that kind of damage, saw it as more of a "spark inhibitor". Glad to hear that the damage was less than it could have been under the circumstances.

[Blas]

I have seem something similar to this before. It was caused from the contact on the top of the rotor is not making the proper contact with the carbon contact at the center of the cap. With a gap there, arcing will occure between the rotor contact and cap and very quickly destroy the center carbon contact assembly. I mention this because there looks to be a substantial amount of carbon on the caps center contact. Were there any running problems just before the failure? Perhaps a weird operation of the Tach? (a lagging behind or wildly swinging needle) Does the carbon trail inside the cap orient towards the cap vent?

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

The REAL lesson of the story is to NEVER leave the driveway with a leak of any kind-especially fuel. Have to be diligent about that to prevent this sort of thing.

Good advice! I always do a walk around the car, take a peak under the car, and open the hood and do a quick scan before taking off.

What are the other options to the MSD cap? I recall someone posting that Summit sold a replacement cap that was better quality and cheaper.