84 CRX doesn't start when wet

I'd like to start off by saying that I'm new to the forum and thanks in advance for any help you guys offer... I'm more or less looking for suggestions and pointers.

Basically... I've got a 1984 CRX 1300 that was resurrected from a junk yard, fixed up to the point where it was (barely) running, then sold to me for $700. After some work and tuning... it's been a solid little car with 220xxx miles on it.
Well... a new problem seems to have presented itself over the past month. I woke up one day after a heavy rain, got in my car, and attempted to start it... it didn't fire. After a little troubleshooting (checking plugs, wires, ohmage on [month old] coil) I figured it was a wet distributor and left it set for a day to dry out. The next day it fired up and ran just fine.

Well... it's rained again, but this time it fired right up. I was on my way to my girlfriend's and hit a puddle that was somewhat deeper than I'd thought at about 20mph. The car died almost immediately. I pushed it into a car lot and started my regular troubleshooting (you know... plugs, wires, etc). Also... and I wonder if this is a no-no (I'm somewhat novice)... I waited for a break in the rain and took off the distribution cap, dried it out with a T-Shirt, and changed the rotor button (I'd bought one when tuning the car up but never bothered changing it, the old one looks pretty good still). The rotor button thing's interesting, though, as when I took off the old button, I couldn't find any indication on the shaft it attaches to of button orientation, as it was perfectly round. However, the button seemed to only fit in one direction. My question, though... is does it matter what direction it's facing? I was in a hurry as I was expecting more rain any minute...

At any rate... it continued to rain the rest of the evening, and my car's still sitting in that parking lot, as I could not get it started (I tried again hours later.) As it stands, I'm just going to go back tomorrow afternoon and hope whatever is malfunctioning dries out.

I just wonder... what else could it be aside from the distributor? If it is the distributor getting wet, how can I prevent this from happening? Also... do you think I've screwed myself by messing with the distributor in a drizzle and possibly not orienting my rotor button properly?

Thanks again,
Jake

Your distributor should be fine after messing with it in the rain. However the rotor is a problem, make absolutely sure it is indexed correctly.

Your problem sounds like it is being caused by moisture in the distributor. To solve this problem, buy a new distributor cap seal. You will probably need to buy this from a Honda dealer (I did) but it should cost less than $10.


Good luck!

How do I know if it is indexed properly??

maybe the dist shaft is different like round on one side and flat on the other or if you have to use a screw then try lining up the screw because you didnt say anything about a screw so im assuming its a snap on so it should only snap on one way and try checking to see if the cap gasket is still in place they usually come with the cap when you buy it from an autoparts store

Thanks, guys. It seems I've rectified the problem, at least temporarily.
I went to the Honda dealership to order that seal (it was about $8) and the guy at the service window told me to try spraying the cap out with WD-40. I sprayed it with WD40 and jumped it. After alternating between pleading with it and cursing at it for 20 minutes (always nessicary with these older hondas) it finally started.

A couple things of note, though...
1. It puffed blue smoke out of the exhaust for about a minute after I started it.

2. At work today, I went and started it just to make sure it would start... about 5 seconds into idling it made a sound like a cat stuck in my carbeurator. I popped the hood and noticed smoke coming from my belt area, but not the belt specifically... my belt's brand new and hasn't given me any problems. It made a smell like burning chemicals. I quickly killed it and started it back up... the problem did not present itself again.

probably got wd on the belt and it was burning off

My engine is layed out like this: distributor - engine - belt
Is it still possible for WD40 to have made it across my engine compartment?

Could be an old belt, oil could have dripped onto the belt, or it could just be a little too loose and/or wet. I'm guessing it's #3

As far as the smoke goes, this is pretty common on higher mileage vehicles. Basically what has happened it that the valve seals have dried out and cracked allowing oil to leak into the cylinders after the car has been sitting for a while. The smoke that you see is this oil being burned off after you start the car.

As a rule of thumb:
Blue smoke upon startup = bad valve seals
Blue smoke upon acceleration = bad piston rings
White smoke = bad cylinder head gasket
Black smoke = unburned fuel

Hmmm, after thinking about the screaming cat sound for a moment, I remembered that my water pump made a similar sound as it started to die. Just watch the temp gauge and make sure it does not overheat. If it overheats and you do not see white smoke coming from the tailpipe, or if you can't get hot air from the heater, then your water pump has gone bad.

No problems with cooling... my fan's no longer automatic (I've got an on-off switch under the dash), and I hardly ever run it except for on hot days whilst driving in the city.

I haven't encountered any more smoke. It seems to only occur after I fix a problem and need to spend a while getting it started. Could it be from maybe having flooded it trying to start it in the first place when something's broken?

Also... I should probably note that there's a nice straight pipe welded into where I think a cadillidic converter should be and I'm running a v-force muffler (http://www.flopro.com/VForce.htm) (as recomended by my local exhaust shop.. the lifetime warranty and lack of rice sound were driving factors).