dizzy problems

my car stalled out on the highway and didn't restart. when i got home i removed the dizzy cap and the rotor was eating through the cap tabs.(where the spark goes through...) is the wholw dizzy scrap.

no, just get a new cap and rotor.

huh really??? i just repleced them like 2 weeks ago!!!

hum, was the rotor loose? If not, the the distributor may be warped or something causing it not to spin strait, never seen one do that though. Any way you can get a picture?

a pic of the rotor??

of the cap, you said it was eating though the contact posts, just wanting to see if we could tell anything from that.

ah ok i will try my best. i am gonna put an old cap that i had laying round and see what happens. thanks

i tried with another cap and nothing. its also giving a bunch of codes.

i tried with another cap and nothing. its also giving a bunch of codes.

Did you consider replacing the coil and the igniter (aka ignition module)? I'm in a similar situation and planning to do the same. I know they've had probs with the original igniters and I'm trying to make sure that my aftermarket parts don't have the same prob. Anyway, a new distributor will come without the coil and igniter so you should replace those components FIRST and then reuse them in a new distributor IF you need it. Online (I use thepartsbin.com) the two parts should cost between $50 and $80 each. I understand that one one starts to fail it can stress the other and make it go bad so it might pay to just replace both at once. Besides, it's usually a struggle for me under the hood (at least a shot afternoon) so I tend to replace the inexpensive parts anyway, rather than plan a second 'operation.' Even if it's just the cap and rotor, opening it up and getting at those little screws is the hard part. Anyway, Good luck!

note: new dizzy will come with coil and ignitor

note: new dizzy will come with coil and ignitor

Probably depends on where you order it. The OEM style ones I've checked out (incl. at thepartsbin.com) don't come with cap, rotor, coil, or igniter.

Advance Auto... less than $200 with core, including coil and ignitor and LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY (which means that when it messes up you can take it back and get it replaced... only once though - that's what they mean by limited). I really wish I had known cuz my car was dead sitting about 100 yards from the Advance Auto and could have fixed my car right away, but I ended up having it towed twice and paying a shop $80. I felt like the biggest dumbass cuz I could have spent $0 and had my car running right away....

Advance Auto... less than $200 with core, including coil and ignitor and LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY (which means that when it messes up you can take it back and get it replaced... only once though - that's what they mean by limited). I really wish I had known cuz my car was dead sitting about 100 yards from the Advance Auto and could have fixed my car right away, but I ended up having it towed twice and paying a shop $80. I felt like the biggest dumbass cuz I could have spent $0 and had my car running right away....

Wow!!! That's a killer price. I guess I'm a dumbass too: I've already spent about $150 on a coil and two igniters. Say, how easy is it to replace a distributor? I imagine it's tons easier to put in the coil and igniter while the distributor is on a workbench but what about getting it in and out of the engine block? Any special tools req'd? I'm basically a bolt-on type beginner....

I'm with turtle, I'v never seen one that didnt come with with coil and stuff sence its internal.

but what i found weird is that the rotor cut through 3 of the 4 electical posts of the cap...

but what i found weird is that the rotor cut through 3 of the 4 electical posts of the cap...

You said something about a "bunch of codes." That could be important, me thinks. What codes?

Did the "eating through" of the cap posts look like it was mechanical (something hitting something) or electrical (some sort of burning, melting, or powdery deposits of some sort)? That either/or would be a huge help to figuring this out: then you can divide the problems into loose rotor type stuff vs. bad ignition parts type stuff.

Some of the more knowledgable people on this post would know much better than me, but one thing I've been hearing while researching my own dizzy probs, is that if one of the ignition components is not working, the excess (?) amps can be transferred to other parts of the system and overload them (i.e, if you disconnect a sparkplug wire and the created voltage for that plug is not going out through the wire, it seems that it will go somewhere; same thing can happen between the coil and igniter). That can be a problem. If the damage to the cap looks like electrical overload of some sort, maybe that's what's going on -- in short, you could have a 'good cap' and rotor that are being affected by some sort of electrical overload in the other systems. I have no idea what's going on there, so others can chime in and might be more helpful.

One thing you should do, too, before you tear all your hair out is check the sparkplugs. Is it the same three posts that failed both times? Are all cylinders firing? I'm a big believer in checking and replacing the cheap/easy stuff as you go.

it is more of a mechanicall problem. i heard it grinding for a coupple hours befor it stalled. i though it was the waterpump or something. i was wrong.

sounds like somehow the distributor shaft got bent, causing it to take out three of the posts on the cap

ya can high rpm cause that.

is it a big deal to rebuild those cause i have a dizzy from a 92. i dunno if the shaft is the same..

I have a used coil if u want it for 20 bucks plus shipping :P i pulled it from my 91 and replaced it cause i thought it was bad :P it wasnt but if you want it its yours.

thanks!! but my coil is fine the problem seams to be with the shaft..