My dad had Darts and Valiants back in the early sixties and one of his remarks about the mighty /6 was that if you drove through even the slightest puddle you'd have electrical problems.

We had a lot of rain here in Austin on Monday and I drove my 71 D100 through some pretty deep puddles and sure enough, had some heavy hesitations after shutting it off and trying to start it back up.

I've got a Pertronix ignition and the cap is on tight. New 8mm plug wires, too.

Have other folks run into this problem? Is there a quick fix out there?

Thanks,

Joe

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Joe Hoppe

71 D100 225 Super Six 727 AT on 2008 Crown Vic CopCar frame

64 Valiant Wagon 225 904 AT 3:23 8.75"

I have the same problem virtually every time I drive the truck through a deep puddle. I used some of Prolong's multi-purpose "slick'm" to coat the inside of the dist cap. It helps, but never stopped the arcing problem from water in the dist. Only real solution that ever worked for me was to avoid the deep puddles If I did get water in there, I just popped off the cap and dried it out with paper towels from behind the seat...all is right again.

One thing I have noticed is that the worst scenerio is turning right through a deep puddle....in this case my right front tire throws water directly onto my dist I have cut a deflection shield out of a mudflap, but again mixed results.

I think the only real solution is to seal the cap to the dist with a rubber ring or some silicon, and run a rubber hose to the vent on the cap, letting it breathe where water cannot enter the vent hose.

-S/6

Hi all,

Why not replace the distributor, and step up to distributorless ignition? Here is what I am planning to use on my Barracuda
megasquirt/edis

There is also a pure ignition system, not including fuel injection
MegaJolt Light


Most people on this board are really handy. This project is probably do-able by a lot of slanters.

Luckily it doesn't rain that much here very often. Thanks for the tips.

As far as going distributorless, my D100 is my daily driver, and I wanted a /6 to get away from all those computers and technology.

If this happens again I'm breaking out a tube of silicone.

Thanks,

Joe

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Joe Hoppe

71 D100 225 Super Six 727 AT on 2008 Crown Vic CopCar frame

64 Valiant Wagon 225 904 AT 3:23 8.75"

Good call. I'm the same way with my Dart. -zorg

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I noticed that some newer cars (like my '89 Taurus V6) use rubber boots over the distributors. Wonder if one would fit a slant?

One thing that woprked for me was to put Vaseline on the base of the dist cap and put a latex glove around the cap/dist seals out the moisture, you wont be 100% sealed, condensation still builds, but you are better off than without it.

I replaced the point distributor in my 68 Valiant once. The new one had a hole drilled in the bottom of it for some reason. It ran fine till it rained then it would miss and all kinds of mess. I took some RTV and closed the hole and after that it was fine. Also the main thing is DO NOT use a cheap distributor cap. Spend the extra money and buy a good one like Borg Warner. After I relaced the distributor with an electronic one I had the cap crack. The crack was hard to see. I didn't find the crack until I replaced the cap. It ran fine till it rained. Since we were in a drought at the time who knows how long it was cracked. It would buck, miss and run terrible. I went to the parts store and bought a new one. When I took the old one off it had a bunch of water in it. I don't see how the thing even ran. I guess it was trying to fire all 6 at the same time. Any way it was still raining so I pulled into a carwash and changed the cap and dried the distributor out as much as I could. After I changed the cap no more problems. The main thing is to use a good quality cap, rotor and wires. Don't go cheap on those parts. Heck I could even wash the engine at the carwash and start it right up after washing it.

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Former bent 6 owner
Mark

I degreased my mid 60's slant in my truck yesterday. Absolutely soaked the whole engine with water hosing all the crud off.
Fired straight up after that. I was surprised! I really soaked the distributor and coil areas too.
It's running a points distributor and ancient leads too(they look like the copper core ones, veeery thin).

Regards, Andrew.

It's funny, but I've had the same experience, so wondered what my old man was talking about. Maybe the water comes from somewhere else or it's just the length of time exposed, but as you say, I've degreased and washed in the car wash with hardly any problems, too.

I can degrease my engine to my hearts content at the car wash, and have no problem restarting. But, if I go thru a puddle that is 4" or more deep, the car will be a bear to restart. More then likely, I will have to remove the cap and dry it out.

That's interesting then....I think I will fashion a splash shield that sits between the engine block and distributor, just to be sure. Seems like the easiest place to put it.
I haven't driven my truck yet(well, I have moved it around the yard), it's a MAJOR project...maybe next year!

Andrew.

The engine in my car already has such a shield, dosen't help.