Here is one thing to look for: excessive side play in the distributor shaft
and any evidence of contact between the rotor and cap terminals (brass
powder).
The rotor terminal and the distributor cap terminals normally do not come in
contact, but if the shaft wobbles, contact can happen at random times, and
this can crack or break a rotor. I had several rotors crack (this was in
1990, so it isn't strictly a recent quality problem with the rotors), and a
brand new rotor break in two on the first attempt to start. The distributor
shaft had some noticeable side play, but it wasn't what I thought enough to
allow contact. Guess I was wrong.
The first time my car failed to start because of this problem, I was 350 miles
from home. I found some brass powder under the cap, but cleaned it out and
replaced the rotor with a spare. It got me home and several months more
before the spare cracked. I went through two more cracked rotors and the one
that immediately broke in two before solving the problem by replacing the
distributor with a Mallory dual-point.
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC USA
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Brown
To: Patton Dickson
Cc: healeys@autox.team.net
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 7:56 AM
Subject: RE: Burning up rotors - plus tech tip to get home!!! Long!
Payton,
[snip]
I'm convinced it is not solely the rotors but very hard to
diagnose problem that manifest itself by destroying rotors.
But no one has suggested anything to look for.
Bob
Patton Dickson wrote on 6/12/2004, 10:06 PM:
> Why are we putting
> up with this??? This isn't normal Lucas bad electrics, this is an
> absolutely defective part sitting on the shelves!
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