The sparkplug wire boots on top of my distributar have white spots on them ,and my car has a slight miss in it sometimes .The distributar cap is not that old and I dont see any visible cracks on the outside .The car is still shaking .I went and took it for a test drive just then and it's not shifting real smooth , it seems like it takes a little longer to shift or hesitates , I dont know what you guys think ? Wayne

 

Pull the cap and check it theres any crap on the top of the cap interfering (sp?) with the spark and also check the rotor..any problem with the wires/plugs? What about coil?

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1989 Firebird. Modded.
700r4-->t5 w/ram clutch
Cold air, 1.6 rockers, 21lb injectors, 3" y-pipe, random tech cat, 3" ipipe, flowmaster 80 series 3" in 3" out hand made stainless tips, Lakewood LCA's, Msd 6a, Msd coil, Wonder Bar, 180* stat,
Coming Soon: T/a hood, Painted,Spohn Panhard Bar, 4thgen Front Seats, Cam!, Msd 8.5 wires, Posi (ACCEL IS CRAP)
"I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT have run at all"
See my car Here!
In Memory of #3 Dale Earnhardt

 

I tried to check it the other day , but I have bolts on mine and whoever put the new engine in stripped them .Right now Im debating whether to go buy me an accel can and rotar or msd tonight so I can get the shop to put it on tommorrow , I have to have the car for school friday ,Thanx guys , Wayne p.s. Is the white stuff on the sparkplug boots on top of the rotar normal ?

 

If the white stuff is kind of powderey I think it's from manufacturing. It's put on the mold so that the item comes out cleanly.

If you think there's an ignition problem try spraying a bit of water on the coil, distributor and wires. If they're leaking you'll know right away. Note, make sure you can get replacement parts because you may not be able to drive the car until it gets dried out. If you do this at night in the dark you can often see if the wires or cap is leaking because there will be little blue sparks or flashes.

If the water doesn't find anything have a look at the plugs. My experience has been that they're more likely to fail than the other parts.

One other gizmo that can crap out is the ignition module in the distributor. It's very unlikely though.

Good luck & cheers,

Duane