Vortec Distributor Cap Problems

I had a problem of the distributor cap on my 98 5 7 and it was because the cap wasn t sealed good enough.

Vortec distributor cap problems. All that condensate dripping straight down into cap. I have a 97 truck v6 vortec and every year i have to buy a new distributor cap. It doesn t have any vents it has to be sealed to stop moisture from getting in there. And the distributor sits in a high heat part of the engine with poor air circulation or cooling.

Every month or two i am burning up distributor cap and rotor. You need a throx t 20 to pop the cap and t 15 to take off the rotor. This causes the rotor bushing to wear out and the distributor begins to no longer be able to turn. The cap is prone to warping from the heat which results in the cap rubbing against the distributor rotor button.

The underlying problem is that its a design flaw. Moisture water whatever you want to call it gets in it and screws it up. 2 could their be a defect in the distributor itself that wont allow the moisture to leave causing the corrosion. 1 the air gap between the rotor and cap electrodes is greater on the 5 7 vortec engine causing the rotor to prematurely burn.

Any kind of moisture will make it hard to start or not start at all. The end play caused the distributor shaft to thrust upwards when decelerating and push the rotor into the cap. It doesnt help that the ac line from back of compressor runs right over the top of distributor. Gm used the style cap on v6 and v8 vortec motors.

It also caused the hall effect sensor to misread the notch in the rotor. In addition you ll also see damage to the distributor rotor. The last cap only lasted 3k before it started mifiring. Wondering if i need to go to original acdelco distributor.

Make sure to get a quality cap though. I had the truck for about 4. The cap is made of plastic. 4 3 distributor cap issues 08 22 06 06 05 am post 989299 in response to hdmk i had this exact same issue on a 96 and never found the actual cause of the problem.

You might hear a tapping clicking or sputtering sound when the distributor rotor and cap are failing. I went through many caps both aluminum and brass inserts new wires new dist plugs coil but nothing fixed it. The issue stems from failure of the housing that in turn allows the distributor shaft bushing to wear out. To verify vortec engine distributor problem set the code you simply remove the distributor cap.

Any time you have routine service performed on your vehicle ask that the ignition system be. Heck i was parked idling in the rain the other day and somehow rain got sucked up in it started missing warning light blinking i was parked. In vortec engines the problem stems with the cap on the distributor not the actual distributor itself. I have changed icm coil back to acdelco plugs.