Distributor Caps

[Tony1345402284 0]

My '89 Mi16x4 has an appetite for distributor caps.

 

It has the Ducellier distributor.

 

The cap lasts around 10,000 miles/2 years by which time the centre electrode in the cap is badly worn down and the cap itself it burnt away around the electrode.

 

There is also a large amount of burning on the 4 outer terminals of the cap and on outer terminal of the rotor.

 

It becomes progressively slower to start.

 

What gives? The sparkplugs are lasting 3-4 times as long as the cap and rotor

 

Any ideas anyone? Or is it a case of "they all do that sir".

 

Thanks.

 

Tony

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

My first 405 Mi16 used to eat distributor caps within 6 months, it was an expensive nightmare and I never found out what caused it. My current car is now on 4 years with one cap and not long ago I was lucky to pick up a genuine Pug cap and arm for just £16 on ebay. Considering that at the time the XU9J4 was Peugeot's highest spec engine you'd have thought they would have upgraded the entire engine managment system as they did with the XU9J2. Around '90 or '91 on the XU9J2 they junked the distributor and air flow meter and used a MAP sensor and one of those coils with the 4 outlets for the 4 HT leads that went straight to the spark plugs. I recall my dad's V6 Mondeo was like that. Of course now most engines use that awful system of having a coil over each spark plug - like the 2 litre Mi16 - and they like to play up what with the high engine temps in that area.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

As Kris has said, some do and some don;t my old 91 Mi got thru a few and never found a reason why, Maybe the pattern caps

[Baz 421]

And they're feckin expensive too!