sayonion

I have an '86, and a couple years ago it died while driving home in stop-and-go traffic and really heavy rain. (It's okay in heavy rain as long as we're constantly moving, though.) Recently, someone told me that there's something that's supposed to go over the engine to keep rain out; is there such a thing?

Thanks!

theiceman

pics of your car ?

theiceman

..and welcome to Rennlist

racer

There is no "rain tray" for your vintage 911. Has it died since in the intervening years? I would chalk it up as a freak occurance. How did the car restart? did you need to replace any parts?

Peter Zimmermann

The most common fix for that symptom is to replace the distributor cap & rotor.

My shop was located across an alley from a large SoCal car wash. I can't tell you how many Carreras that went through that place, and wouldn't start after the wash. We used to keep three Carrera caps & rotors in stock - one set for us, the other two for the car wash's clients!

And, no, there are no rain diverters for Carreras, or other 911s.

sayonion

Thanks for the answers! It started up again fine after it dried out, and that was the last time it died for rain-related reasons. I've had a couple of tune-ups since then with my mechanic who's owned Porsches, but I'll check my service receipts to see if he's replaced the cap and rotor.

I'm at work, but I'll put up a picture of my car when I get home.

theiceman

hey you got freebie answers without posting pics .. you slid that one thriugh

Any way I am sure you would have had bew cap and rotor at some point. I fnd the oem wires very robust , but make sure there aren't cheap aftermarket ones on their also,

Ed Hughes

Could be low quality or old plug wires too.

theiceman

damn i wish I has said that

theiceman

damn i wish I had said that

Ed Hughes

Sorry-doing this on my phone and only saw the references to cap and rotor.

rusnak

All good points guys.

I have experienced the "failed to start" after parking the car outside in a rainstorm. On my 911, this happens on a cold engine, but never while it is hot. I don't know if there is any expansion or contraction going on with the rubber and plastic parts or not.

My solution was to take the cap off, and wipe it with a rag (I keep clean rags in the car). It fired right up. If the car dies while it is still running, then I have to agree the distributor cap springs may be weak, or there may be a problem with the cap.

If you want to check your wires, a quick and dirty way is to open the engine lid with the car running at night with no flashlight. You might see a lightshow or some arcing. If you do, then you need new wires.

rigger

Never ever drive your 911 in the rain only days with SUN!!! Roof open windows down music rumbling and the sweet sounds of high rev's in 3rd!!!! That also should solve any other issues you may have besides the running issue!

sig_a

You may want to consider using a dielectric grease such as DOW No. 4 to help seal plug wires/insulators from water.

theiceman

doing rennlist on a phone ? man i need to get into the 80's