engine occasionally misfiring

[jopizz]

The op could do a continuity test on the #5 plug wire. Probably a waste of time.

I was going to suggest that he swap out the plug wire in case he has a loose connection at the boot where it goes into the cap. It's possible the movement of pushing on the cap is causing the wire to make a temporary connection.

John

[JohnG]

I would not assume anything, even though some parts are "new".

Included in that comment is the distributor itself. I would take the cap and rotor off, grab the shaft and see if I could feel any side to side play in it. This would indicate poor bearings. Such in turn can cause odd timing.

Are you certain the cap is sitting squarely and correctly on the distributor body ? A small bit of sloppy plastic could prevent this. Hold it upside down beside your old one and compare.

I would certainly buy another cap/rotor from a different source and try them. Short money. Never know how well/poorly the others were made.

check the spark plug wires for routing. Separate with the little plastic gizmos as best you can. Odd things can happen between them.

But definitely try another cap & rotor . . .

john

[Geoffreybusuttilmalta]

thanks for all the replies. dont worry jon pizzi maybe i found u in a bad moment yesty.. definetly will buy another cap and rotor... besides birdsnest... is there any other reliable source for buyin such things for my 352 ?...

coz the only places i buy from is birdsnest and rockautoo

regards

geoffrey

[YellowRose]

engine occasionally misfiring

Geoffrey, the Bird Nest and Thunderbird Headquarters manufacture about 80% of the parts that are sold by all the other Tbird parts houses listed in the Advertisements Forum... So they tell me... I have no idea which one manufactures the cap and rotor or if someone else does. But you might try Tbird Hqs...

[Geoffreybusuttilmalta]

thx yellow rose .. i`ll go in for the search

[YellowRose]

engine occasionally misfiring

If you email these Tbird vendors, you might ask them if they manufacture the cap and rotor themselves, or if they know who does..... Later on when the Bird Nest opens, I will ask Don there, if they are the manufacturer of these parts, or if they know who does and will let you know what they say.

[partsetal]

Most of the off-shore produced caps today have aluminum contacts. The originals were brass and Mac's still has them but at a slightly higher price. Seems like a better choice to me.
Carl

[YellowRose]

engine occasionally misfiring

I just spoke with Don at the Bird Nest. He said they get their caps and rotors from local stock, which, he said, considering the low cost, are probably made in China. My suggestion is if you are going to buy another set to order from Mac's and get the original type with the brass contacts, as Carl suggested. It might cost a bit more, but at least you know you are getting the original type...

[Geoffreybusuttilmalta]

wow thanks for asking the guy ... i`d offer you a maltese beer if i could id order a cap and a rotor from mac then and once placed in i`ll tell you hows the situation .. what i noticed aswell is that it misfires a bit at first then for the whole ride i went with it it worked beautifully

bdw love the way the bird drives .. it was my first time out for quite a long ride here and apart from being an eye catcher .. it also offers a good punch when pressing the gas ... totally lolve em!!

[Geoffreybusuttilmalta]

i`ll order a new distirbutor cap from Mac`s and a new rotor too..

i`d like also to apologize mr pizzi, but pls do know that i wasnt underestimating your experience. none of you. i just posted here after speaking with ppl about a problem i had with my car .. so its obvious for me to ask here for a whole lotta more expertise.

i replied today because i wasnt at home. and as soon as i arrive i`ll surely order them. so i`ll try to fix my problem.

[jopizz]

Geoffrey,

Thanks for the apology. I sent you a PM.

John

[YellowRose]

engine occasionally misfiring

I just sent Geoffrey the MAC links for the distributor cap with the brass contacts and the tune up kit with condenser, points and rotor... That cap is only $3 more than the one with the aluminum contacts... Hopefully, this will fix the problem. I suggested that he switch just the cap out first. If that fixes the problem, he will know that his present cap was defective. If that does not fix the problem, then I suggested that he replace the rotor next. If that does not fix the problem, then replace the points. If that fixes the problem, it will tell him which part was the problem. Swap out the condenser if the previous swap of parts does not fix it. I know that this is throwing parts at a problem, but I don't see what he could do otherwise to find the problem and fix it. If that does not fix the problem.... then he is going to need more assistance....

[Woobie]

I just sent Geoffrey the MAC links for the distributor cap with the brass contacts and the tune up kit with condenser, points and rotor... That cap is only $3 more than the one with the aluminum contacts... Hopefully, this will fix the problem. I suggested that he switch just the cap out first. If that fixes the problem, he will know that his present cap was defective. If that does not fix the problem, then I suggested that he replace the rotor next. If that does not fix the problem, then replace the points. If that fixes the problem, it will tell him which part was the problem. Swap out the condenser if the previous swap of parts does not fix it. I know that this is throwing parts at a problem, but I don't see what he could do otherwise to find the problem and fix it. If that does not fix the problem.... then he is going to need more assistance....

Talking about caps, we, Woobie and I, inspected our 5-year warranty cap and rotor to find significant scoring on the copper cap contacts. Purchased in May 2016. Upon researching replacement caps, one is available with aluminum contacts and a lifetime warranty. Now I am not sure what to do. A previous regular 8.00 cap would not seat properly and nearly exploded the engine. Now this higher quality, ha ha, cap is toast in one year. ???

[Frango100]

Talking about caps, we, Woobie and I, inspected our 5-year warranty cap and rotor to find significant scoring on the copper cap contacts. Purchased in May 2016. Upon researching replacement caps, one is available with aluminum contacts and a lifetime warranty. Now I am not sure what to do. A previous regular 8.00 cap would not seat properly and nearly exploded the engine. Now this higher quality, ha ha, cap is toast in one year. ???

When the rotor passes each contact, a spark will fly over and burn a bit the contact. It is normal that some burn marks are there.
But if the plug gaps are set too far( or when the plugs are worn), more voltage will be needed to create the spark and more burning of the contacts will occur.

[simplyconnected]

When the rotor passes each contact, a spark will fly over and burn a bit the contact. It is normal that some burn marks are there...

Use that 'witness mark' to determine if your rotor is centered. Sometimes there will be a white-ish residue left on the cap electrodes.

I have found distributors that were off one tooth, then someone moved the spark plug wires over one tower. It doesn't work that way because the number of teeth on the gear do not match the number of towers. It ends up where the rotor fires before or after it gets to the tower electrode.

This is one of those cases where the distributor gear needs to match the cam gear correctly. - Dave