My 92 Hijet will not start whenever the humidity goes up. If it is minus 20 degrees, starts right away but yesterday 0 degrees celcius and not go. New cap, rotor and I changed the coil from the other Hijet. I am left wonmdering about the hose attached to the dist cap. Is moist air entering the distributor through this hose? The problem is intermittent and dependant on weather - any ideas?? Thanks, Ralph in Winnipeg.
Mine was the same, and shut down for about 3 days when we had that week of misty rain. I filled all of my spark plug boots with dielectric grease, soaked the plug wires with spray silicone, and put a heavy coat of dielectric grease on the cap gasket. Now this is where some people may disagree, but I filled the cap vent with silicone. Hasn't been a problem since, though yesterday took a few extra cranks to fire up. Good luck! /Kris ps - I also keep a spray bottle of ignition dryer in the toolbox. Pull the cap, spray it on, and it should get you going.
The simple truth is, that if your ignition system and wires are good, it will just about run under water, and if it is bad, no amount of sealant or magic sprays will cure it. Make sure that your wires and other components are in good order.
Sorry bout this, I meant to say that it sounds more like your ckoke may be staying on, or other carb related problem. IE float level, leaking float valve, pluged air filter etc. Bob Jonah
I guess to add to my post as well - all of my ignition components were new, I just hadn't sealed it up until it was too late. Oddly enough - as Bob mentions, I have run Babytruck through some rediculously deep water with absolutely no problems. It seems to be these damp, misty conditions that screw with starting. On mine, by process of elimination, it was absolutely moisture in the distributor cap. And it was a headache-and-a-half to get "resolved" when the rain was coming from every direction. The drying spray would get it running, but once it was off, I'd have to pull the cap again. /Kris
If there is a vent then there is air coming or going through the vent. Find out where the other vent opening is and fix it, probably the dist gasket. To get enough moisture to short out spark you need a lot of air passing through after you shut down to condense it. It happens when your distributor cools down pulling in air and it condenses moisture. Try adding a longer hose for the vent so it breaths in and out at night the same air in the long hose and check the distributor gasket. Outboard motors had 2 vents on their distributors and they didnt have that problem but they had 2 hoses and didnt bring in outside air when they cooled down. Gasp, what Im trying to say is the area for air in the distributor is small and shouldnt bring in much moisture when it cools so you have other air blowing through to bring in the moisture. If you cant see the moisture on the sides of the distributor cap then I doubt that is your problem. tom
Hey there folks. Temperatures are back to 0 today, and Babytruck would not start despite being completely sealed with dielectric grease, the distributor cap vent sealed with silicone, and all new components. Had spark at the coil and the cap, but no fire in the plugs. Took the cap off, sprayed it with points cleaner / dryer, sprayed the wires and coil with the same, and it started right up. Ralph - have you made any progress with your situation? You have a garage... I sadly do not. I talked with an old mechanic this morning because I lost my can of dry and go and had to get another. Trouble shooted before and after the issue, and he is baffled. He suggested maybe the grounding pin is allowing moisture into the distributor. Glad he was confused also, because at first he was looking at me like I didn't know what I was talking about. Now he agrees I was describing it correct, but the problem is illogical. /Kris
It is sucking in cold dry air as it cools and that shouldnt be a problem, they all do and you cant stop it. You cant make it vacuum proof and dont need to. All distributors suck in outside air as they cool off. You have another problem like steam off your header or muffler. Unplug the vent and look in another direction! I think your getting moisture in there while its running and it forms a vapor as it cools off and condenses on the sides or something like that. Next time you go to start it look in the distributor cap first and see if its wet before you start it. Your going to have to check one thing at a time to figure which it is, wires, cap, ect. About the only thing that will get water in a distributor cap after you turn off the engine is steam or vapor comming off hot engine, condensing on the inside of dist. as it cools off. tom:frustration:
Hi Kris, I did exactly what you did. The vent hose into the frame rail did not have a valve of any type on the end. Shouldn't that have a one way valve of some variety at least like a rear diff? I cleaned everything, caulked the vent, covered the whole lot with WD-40 and so far so good. I could believe the leaking through the ground idea. Clean it up and brush the lot with liquid electrical tape, my new favorite sealant, perhaps. Condensation from inside the engine is also possible. I guess you'll have to continue experimenting. Ralph
Quick update - had the same issue again last week after a misty rain all night. Got it going quick by pulling the cap and using dry-and-go. At least I have that process well-practiced now. Once the weather changed and after a few hot and dry days, I resealed the cap (again) and this time completely sealed both cap vents with "Goop" (love that stuff!). It's been raining 2 days straight now including periods of mist and plenty of puddles to splash through, and no problems at all starting. Once this weather breaks again, I may engineer a different style of cap vent, but maybe not. Reading around, the Jeep 4.0L guys are using a Ford cap (no vent whatsoever) without any problems. I'll post when I have some results of my own to share in the future. Fingers crossed that things are resolved, but not willing to bet any substantial funds on it. At least I know I can get him running when I need to. That's almost like being reliable, right? /Kris
That automotive goop is great. I sealed that vent up a while ago and that with fixing my plug wire to the coil has made all the difference.
