moisture again

flatmotor40

flatmotor40

Well-known member
Why do I keep getting moisture in the dist cap on my 40.We have been having rain and more rain and I took cap off to clean the water in the cap but didn't put it back on till couple days.Laid it on fender and neat day after rain and cold cap had moisture in it just laying on fender.Have used WD40 time and time I guess I will have to keep it up or is they any other way to stop this.thanks
 
Warm moist air trapped inside the dist. then cool condensed air hit it? It's aluminum housing would change temp quickly, maybe exacerbating the problem. I've always been curious too, as I used to see grandpa using a hair dryer on his old Fords and Ford tractors....
 
You could give me the car and I promise to keep it here in Arizona where there is less humidity. I know, I am just a compassionate guy. Chap
 
Use LPS-1, the best moister dis-placer there is. I used to sell it to "several" companies just for that purpose, they used it on the electronics of Life Flight helicopters they made. I also sold 220 gals of it to the U S Navy for the USS Cole after it was bombed in Yemen. They sprayed the whole inside part of the electrical room that was exposed from the blast with it to protect it for shipping back the the US crossing the Atlantic. Just coat the whole inside of the distributor and caps.
 
Many years ago when I worked as a mechanic for a local dairy we used a product called Master Mechanic sold by Selig Chemical. It smelled like bananas IIRC and it was the best water displacement spray bar none. It was also a great penetrate and lubricant. I have no idea how it did everything but it did. It wasn't cheap but we used it by the case. Don 't know if the stuff for sale today with all the new EPA rules works as well but it would be worth a try, IMO.

 
51504bat said:
Master Mechanic sold by Selig Chemical. It smelled like bananas IIRC and it was the best water displacement spray bar none. It was also a great penetrate and lubricant. I have no idea how it did everything but it did. It wasn't cheap but we used it by the case. Don 't know if the stuff for sale today with all the new EPA rules works as well but it would be worth a try, IMO.
Click to expand...

It is listed here:

https://www.shamrocksupply.com/itemDetailFilterPH.action?RFP=MP&MID=4064&IDP=Y&codeId=9902333
 
After you get it dry and running, maybe when putting the car away leave a drop light under the car close enough that heat comes up by the distributor to keep it warm enough that moisture does not condense there. You live in a high humidity area and when the temp gets low enough, anything metal will condense the moisture out of the air.
 
It's hard to beat WD 40 for water disbursing. That's what the WD stands for. It's not much good for most other things but it is great for that. It was used by Convair Aviation back in the 50s and 60s and they sold the patent to a guy they laid off and the rest is history.
 
I lived in florida for 20 yrs,never had this problem. Car was garaged in a less then great garage. To me something else is going on if you have to do anything at all. Cap has a hole to release water. Drive it more?
 
It would appear that moisture/water from outside the distributer is getting to the interior. The very first things to look at are the 6 gaskets that seal up the distributer. Quite often some of these are omitted. I assume that you have the original 1940 distributer fitted. The bakelite caps on each side must have two gaskets fitted to each, one between the outer and inner terminal plate cap and one between the inner cap and the distributer housing. That's four gaskets for the two caps. Then you need the cork type gasket underneath the ignition coil against the dist housing. Then another gasket between the engine timing gear cover and the base of the distributer. Also the rubber tapered sleeve covers between the end of the spark plug wire condutes and the outer dist caps. These need to fit perfectly to be effective. Spray all the water dispersant all you like but unless the gaskets are ALL FITTED CORRECTLY then you are wasting your time. This need very close inspection. Before fitting all together use a hot air gun to completely dry out the distributer housing and the caps. Regards, Kevin.
 
Thanks it is in a metal building with 2 more of my cars but this one is the only one that does it.It is a Mallory electronic dist.Gasket or no gasket on it it does the same.Will try to find the other stuff.I was moving it off the lift to work on one of the others and it started popping and running rough I knew what was wrong then.But some time I can drive it in the winter to the store and it will do it while it sits at the store.Maybe change the dist will help.But Thanks for info.Just a problem to deal with
 
I second the LPS. I got mine when I sub-contracted with Erickson Air Crane. I like it much better than WD-40 and it smells much better, too.
 
Thanks I"ll see if I can find it.Put the cap back in the garage and it is foggy and cloudy and some raain the next 2 days will look at it again
 
I remember using Damprid when we lived in Florida. We would put the container that was about half filled with Damprid in our closet. A month later there was enough water in the container above the level of the chemical that you had to actually pour it out and replace the entire product.
I believe that we purchased it a the grocery store... Chap.
 
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