Distributor cap damage from broken belt
 

Just thought someone might like to see what happens inside the cap when the secondary rotor is firing between two of the contacts.

I probably put 300 miles on this car before I realized the belt was broken, hoping this is the extent of the damage. Funny thing is, it ran just fine except for a low-RPM hesitation.

http://images60.fotki.com/v662/photo...SC_0247-vi.jpg

Spacely- that looks scary. Is there any way at all to diagnose a problem with the distributor belt without ripping it apart? Especially important since you had essentially no overt signs of a problem (except mild hesitation).

Well pulling the secondary cap is the most direct way to tell, just reach in with your finger and see if the rotor spins. I noticed while replacing the belt, that you might be able to look inside the inspection cover on the side of the distributor, with a mirror and flashlight, if you have the vent tube mod. The vent tube on mine attaches to the primary inspection cover port, but I didn't realize this until it was apart.

See https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...utor-test.html

Mine broke in 2007 (it had been replaced in 1998), so I plan to have it change every 5 or 6 years.

As for the symptoms, the car was not accelerating as much as I thought it could, and was running rough at low RPMs on steep carpark ramps.