Hey guys, in the last 3 weeks i've had to replace the HEI capacitor 2 times. any ideas what could be causing this to happen?

 

I could count on two fingers the number of times I've killed one of them. Very rare. I would start with a fresh module and a new coil and cross your fingers. It's not DYING, something is KILLING it.

 

Capacitors usually fail from overheating and/or overvoltage.

Damon has the right idea. Look into the switching module and possibly the coil itself. A poorly grounded module can cause that, too.

 

well i put a new accel coil on about 2 months ago, and about 6 months ago i changed the cap, rotor, plugs, plug wires, capacitor and the distributor (was changing over to a non-cc carb)...
that switching module your talking about, its the chip that plugs into the capacitor right? how can you tell if its grounded well?

 

?

 

lost another today... i'm gettign to where i can change these things in 3 min...

 

The switching module (or just "the module") is that little electronic gizmo bolted to the floor of the distributor. It has the magnetic pickup plugged in one side and the wires up to the coil coming out the other side. $20 at a parts store.

 

ok, thanks