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96 misfire code and dist cap

azupcountry

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Florida
I posted earlier but it does not look like it made it to the forum..trying again.

96 4.0/AW4 owned since 97 with 240k miles. Recently have had misfire code thrown/crappy idle/bogging and shutting down. Would a distributor cap with what appears to be fine brass dust coating the top perimeter and center, along with electrodes that look like they have carbon fungus growing on them cause this?

Looking at my records embarrassed to see that I had not changed cap and rotor for 5 years! Replaced and running great again..for now.

Thanks
 
Check the side play on your rotor shaft. Up and down play doesn't mean much, side play can cause some serious issues. If the side play gets bad enough your rotor can shatter against the inner cap poles.

I usually replaced my rotor and cap at the same time as the plugs. Cheap insurance, they aren't really expensive.

Over the years the center contact on the cap ablates carbon dust which coats the inside of the cap. This can cause crossfire. Corrosion can cause the same, the oxides from corrosion (dust) can make a conductive coating on the inside of the cap. The inner poles on the cap slowly ablate anyway, which increases the gap.
 
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