[patrickt]

Bob M. (CCX 33239) and I had been emailing each other over an engine fire that he had and how the distributor may have played a role in it. He had some trouble getting a new thread started and asked me if I would do it for him -- so here it is:

Sometime back, I had a significant engine fire that was initiated by a failure in the disributor cap. The carbon center electrode basically "exploded" and sprayed the inside of the cap with carbon dust. I believe this triggered a misfire that resulted in a backfire through the carb. Concurrently, I had a small fuel leak between the fuel pressure guage and the regulator. The result was that I suddenly started dropping cylinders along with smoke exiting from the hood scoop. Thanks to a 2 1/2 lb Halatron extinguisher, the damage was confined to the engine compartment (wiring; fuel lines; and weeks of cleanup). I have had some discussions with PatrickT about this and he suggested that I start a thread that might be of use to some of the members. Attached are some photos of the inside of the cap. Of note are 1) the center electrode is totally gone; 2) almost all of the carbon dust splatter is concentrated between the #4 and #5 plug locations; and 3) the third photo shows the opposite side of the cap has almost no carbon splatter. From the above, I have concluded that the electrode went in one motion, and not over a period of time. Also, this cap had only about 2-3k miles on it. I hope this might be helpful to someone out there.


Bob