I was thinking about a few weeks ago when I took my distributor cap off , the terminals had a funky green powdery crapooa on them . I know white is normal , but what the heck is this green crapola ? I didnt even see any white , I just saw green powdery crapola .

I was reading in one of my HOT ROD magazines today , I learned alot of engine terms . I didn't quit understand compression ratio ...someone explain this better to me .
Thanx guys !

 

I always saw green stuff with my Accel set; I think it was corrosion of the brass. Compression ratio, like, 8.9:1, is basically how tightly the air/fuel mix gets squeezed between the top of the piston and the head. A tighter "squeeze" (like 9.5:1) will make for a bigger explosion, but the tighter the ratio, the higher the octane is needed to prevent detonation. The higher an octane level, the more "controlled" the explosion is. If you have an uncontrolled explosion in a high compression motor, you'll get detonation. That's, at basic, imagining the piston rising up in the bore- and someone smacking it back down with a hammer before the piston gets to it's upper limit of travel. It ain't good.

 

The green powder Is corrosion of the Brass. Just to clear that up.