distributor cap & rotor

[RAY NURNBERGER]

2002 2500 EXPRESS W/5.7 LITER HAS USED 3 DISTRIBUTOR CAPS AND ROTORS W/ ONLY 50,000 MILES. ANY COMMENTS????????THANKS.

[RAY]

I GUESS NOT! THANKS.

[Bob Smith]

RAY NURNBERGER wrote:

2002 2500 EXPRESS W/5.7 LITER HAS USED 3 DISTRIBUTOR CAPS AND ROTORS W/ ONLY 50,000 MILES. ANY COMMENTS????????THANKS.

I have 2002 express 3500 w/ 5.7 and hav just replaced the cap and rotor third time 31000 miles auto zone charged over 60 dollars for part who if the worst rip-off auto zone or chevy dealer cant tell I have a problem

[Vince]

Your doing good. I own a Chev Astro AWD and I have replaced my cap and rotor three times in about 4oookm. Dealer says it's common and GM Canada said they can't help me and that I should talk to a service tech.. I guess they only make the product and pass the buck on to the dealers. Apparently there is no fix to the problem and we, the consumer just have to keep replacing them as needed.

[Bob]

YOU GUYS ARE ALL FULL OF SH*T

[Shane]

Bob wrote:

YOU GUYS ARE ALL FULL OF SH*T

My dad has/had a 2001 chevy truck 6 cyclinder in which the distribitor cap had to be replaced many times. as much as every 700miles before he traded it in on a toyota. He had the same problem with GM rep saying that they didnt know what was wrong with it. They initial had a recall for the ac line to be padded becasuse condensate was running off of it into distribitor cap. Button and points would get burnt up. Even after their so calle dfix. So he traded it for a toyota and told GM to kiss it. No more GM for the carter family and Ford is out too due to problems with a 99 cobra convertible. No wonder american auto makers are going under. They suck.

[Moe]

I have chevy express 2002 with 5.7 ltr. engine.I have to change Cap&Rotor every now and then due to codensation developed in the cap.GM shoud find a solution to this if not taking responsibiliy for repair.

[chuck]

I have a 2001 express 1 ton I am on my 3rd cap and rotor in 2 years (8000 miles) I am putting it on today. But I am going to put a little RTV this time to keep moisture out.

[Craig]

add 4 of our vans to that and 5 more from another company in the area one van has had 5 caps and rotars and coil wires muskego wis

[Mike]

Got a 2001 express 5.7. Yeah, at 47,000 it started eating caps & rotors about every 5,000 to 8,000 miles. I even replaced the distributor. It's a humidity problem, the whole assembly is made of plastic. When it won't start, I put a blow dryer on the distributor, and in ten minutes, starts right up. I haven't found a performance/marine version of this particular distributor yet. Any clues??

[eric]

my 2004 dodge 2500 4x4 .. pickup all of a sudden lost power while pulling one horse in trailer.thought maybe i smoked the 5.7 hemi . is it possible the distr.cap is smoked.is that common among the 5.7 hemi its got 105000 on it.

[Josh]

Does anyone know where the cap is located, sounds like mine needs to be replaced. No instruction booklet in my used 1500 2002 4.8 Thanks

[Pete Nottingham NH]

My 03' chevy express van has the same condensation problem with the distributor cap since the day I bought it. I do not use van everyday, but was told my chevy dealer that I would need to start the van everyday so problem does not occur. Of course they said it was my battery. I need to be aware during humid days, as well as those spring & fall days that are cold at night and above freezing during the day. I have applied vasoline around the cap, and this appears to work until the seal breaks.

[Terry Remsik]

The problem is that the screen inside the body (under the rotor) of the distributor cap is clogged. It will be on the side closest to the front of it. Take out that screen with a screw driver or a pointed center punch.

The condensation build up is due to no circulation inside the distributor.

I am still having the problem though at the cap is burning its self out. I even tried a high perf coil... Just today i had to use a file on the electrode tips under the cap.

[Jorge]

I believe the issue with the distibuters is the thrust collars on the crank or cam whichever drives the distibutor. The issue is the distibutor getting off alignment when the shaft gets shoved back and forth. The bearing in the distibutor can't take the misalignment and gets wobbley hence the misfire on say cylinder #3. I noticed my cap didn't show any wear on that lobe of the distribitor cap.

[bones]

The problem is ionization inside the distributor due to poor ventilation. This occurs in smaller diameter caps, like the newer GM ones. I have evan had problems with my MSD setup which only has 5500 miles on it. Try drilling two 1/4" holes at the back of the distributor cap, about the height of the rotor skirt. If need be, due to excessively dusty conditions, you can epoxy a screen over the holes. This will reduce the pressure build up and allow more air flow to prevent the ionization. This is straight from MSD.

[joe]

same prob only i thought it was my injectors and i wasted 600 on them only to find out that it still ran like s#it due to the poorly designed dist

[rock]

sometimes the hood rubber seal is defective and lets water into the engine compartment . resulting a wet distributor cap and condensation.