Car shuts off every time it rains and then won't start again!

[jennajohnson]

Please somebody help. I am 8 months pregnant and my husband and I are having serious car problems. yesterday we started the car fine and then all of a sudden we drove down the road during the rain and it shut off, and it won't start, we put in a brand new battery, fuses, and spark plugs, it just had an oil change, we take excellent care of this vehicle and this car is well maintained! The mechanic said water got in the distributor cap and we just need to let it sit in the sun or a garage and dry out for a couple days. Which I think is absolutly crazy, obviously something needs to be fixed what is it!? When we try to start the car it just goes chachachacha and it doesn't seem to want to catch with the engine, I think its the connection of the starter to the engine, but what do i know, i am a woman!

[sub006]

Distributor is often the weak link in the Mitsubishi ignition system.

Why not run water over the hood for a few minutes while it's idling. If it stops, pull the distributor cap and see if there IS moisture inside. If so, wipe it out and try again. You may have a hairline crack; I'm surprised the "mechanic" didn't try a new cap instead of telling you to wait two days for it to dry on its own!

Or perhaps he just giving you an opinion without opening the hood to check his guess?

[montgomery820]

Change the gasket that the distributor sits on. They dry out very easily. Most of the time, it will run rough if it raining or just humid with heavy air. If the gasket doesnt fix it, then youll need another distributor. I just fixed mine a week ago. Luckily, it was only the gasket.