the flyin' scotsman

how old are those wires/distributor?

you have a remarkable car with parts ath have lasted so long and a great many miles.

glad you got it fixed

PorKen

ITYS

Bill Ball

They are not original, unlike most of the car.

I changed the plug wires within the last 35K miles. I agree they sure look very neglected and old, but I'm generally very good with maintenance - one reason the car has been so darn trustworthy.

I have seen other instances where leaving one of these cars out in the elements rather quickly wreaked havoc and I generally tell people not to buy one if they don't have a garage. Even condensation from temperature changes seems to be problematic, corroding all kinds of electrical parts even inside the car. So, rarely has this car been left outside overnight, at least during winter weather.

So, I think that even plug wire 8, which fell apart at the distributor end is not that old and suffered all of this rather recently. The car was dyno'd only a few months ago and did really well.

The right side distributor was not affected at all. I can't really explain why the left side would be so different.

Bill Ball

Yep, right on, Ken. I agreed it FELT like an ignition miss and the AFR just didn't seem so bad as to explain the miss. You definitely had a good insight to not necessarily attach a lean AFR to reduced fueling.

Bill Ball

I've always put dielectric grease on the cap openings and never gave the wire side of the boot much thought. But after today, I see that part of the boot can allow water in. Maybe that just needs a swipe with some grease or maybe some RTV.

It might be hard to believe this happened from sitting outside in bad weather, but it's awfully coincidental. I have had similar problems before if I have left the car outside for any extended period, and I have been telling people for years that these cars do not tolerate storage outside very well.

jorj7

So I go pick up my daughter from school and take her to piano lessons, get back and you've told the whole story.
By the way, I made it home without torquing the lug nuts... My old impact wrench was rated at 85 ft-lbs, and
the new one is better, so I didn't worry too much. At least until I looked up the rating on it and it's 200 ft-lbs.
Now I have to check to make sure it didn't over torque them.

Speedtoys

Jorj:

Is your ST the 12pin type? Or the round plug?

jorj7

Round plug.

Speedtoys

Drat. Ko.

Bill Ball

There you go - we forgot to torque the lug nuts. My influence on you is greater than I thought. For those following along...George and I bled his brakes today and we were joking that we better not forget to torque the lugnuts when we are done, something I have forgotten to do twice, fortunately with no serious consequences, caught in time. So, what did we do after a few other tasks were done - we forgot to torque the lugnuts. Oh, and George, you forgot your extra oil too.

danglerb

Blue painters tape, nice big piece so critical stuff isn't forgotten.

Wow, that wire looked terrible, worse than the factory battery cable on my 21 year old Mustang. Hard to believe that is the result of a little condensation, maybe some old wire that didn't get replaced? Maybe cursed by a Gypsy?

Leon Speed

A few years ago my car sat in an open parking garage, and when it rained the garage floor would flood. When starting, there was always a stumble like not all cylinders firing, which cleared up after the engine got warm.

Btw, what kind/brand of ignition leads do you have?

WallyP

Bill,

ITYS as well...

Check for the little edging piece on the left fender edge above the coil. It is designed to prevent rain and wash water from running off the edge of the fender onto the coil and wires.

dcrasta

Not sure how often you drive but the condition of those wires (#8) look pretty deteriorated. Maybe its hotter on that side or like someone said the condensation builds up more on that side. In any case glad it was something 'simple' and 'cheap'.

Bill Ball

Hi Wally. In this case I don't think it would help much.

Here's my theory...

I drive my car in all kinds of bad weather. Always have. Things under the hood always looked virtually brand new even at 150K miles. Even after parking overnight or all day in a storm. No corrosion to speak of anywhere. Then I let the car sit outside in a bad storm cycle for a week or two and everything under the hood corroded. The bolts that held the cross brace got rusty inside, many of the cam cover bolts and thrust washers got this white crustiness. I had corrosion on one coil wire end. That was years ago. It surprised me that corrosion that had not developed in 15 years of driving rather quickly appeared after this episode.

So, my theory is that if you drive the car the engine heat dries the engine compartment. As long as you drive it within a day or so, it gets dried off before corrosion develops. But leaving it outside for an extended time in bad weather is far worse than driving in bad weather because the moisture just stays there and does its thing.