Cap and Rotor

[MaxTTY]

Hello, I got my tune up parts from Hood as well as a new steering shaft from fivetodrive, so I took out my old shaft. and put in the new plugs since I had the extra room w/o the shaft. (UR6 gapped at .030 & touch of anti sieze on threads) I ran out of time to put the new shaft in tonite, but will do that, then wires... one at a time.
I started to think about the cap and rotor, last time which was the first time I had dealt with one was on a 318 several years ago with my friend. I just remeber marking all the cyl numbers on the wires and the cap and i think we made an index mark for the orientation to the firewall. It worked, I didnt think twice about it. I did a search tonight and it seems like there has been some confusion with this... so i started to freak out. Do I need to worry about throwing off my timing? Its just a basic take it out and put in a new one after I rally past my metal ic lines right? Are there precautions I need to take? I will label everything first of coarse.

Please help a n00b

 

[turbodig]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Hello, I got my tune up parts from Hood as well as a new steering shaft from fivetodrive, so I took out my old shaft. and put in the new plugs since I had the extra room w/o the shaft. (UR6 gapped at .030 & touch of anti sieze on threads) I ran out of time to put the new shaft in tonite, but will do that, then wires... one at a time.
I started to think about the cap and rotor, last time which was the first time I had dealt with one was on a 318 several years ago with my friend. I just remeber marking all the cyl numbers on the wires and the cap and i think we made an index mark for the orientation to the firewall. It worked, I didnt think twice about it. I did a search tonight and it seems like there has been some confusion with this... so i started to freak out. Do I need to worry about throwing off my timing? Its just a basic take it out and put in a new one after I rally past my metal ic lines right? Are there precautions I need to take? I will label everything first of coarse.

Please help a n00b

It's not a big deal. Just mark the #1 wire's location on the old cap, before you take it off.
It's the front wire (next to the alt.) on the driver's side.

Take the cap and wires off.

Line up your old cap and the new one next to each other, and put a mark on the same terminal that you marked on the old one. Put the new rotor and cap on.

Put the #1 wire back on first, since you have it marked.
After that, the wires go like so, in a clockwise fashion:

1-6-5-4-3-2

Top of the cap would look similar to this (although it might be rotated a bit, depending on where your distributor is timed).

                                4    3
                            5      c     2
                                6    1

Cylinders:

Rear of motor

6              5
4              3         Driver's side
2              1      

Front of motor

Hopefully that helps.

 

[Don W.]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Cap will only go on one way. If you don't fool with the dist itself and put the wires back where they came from, timing will be unaffected.

 

[vinnieTy]

Re: Cap and Rotor

The info the others gave is great. The way i do mine is.....Change the plugs ans wires first. Start the truck to make sure no miss. Take off old cap with new wires still connected. Pull it aside and put on the new cap and rotor. Once the cap is tighten down pull one wire off at a time and plug them on the new cap. Just make sure you are looking at the cap the same way. Works for me but the info the others gave might be my new way next time.

 

[pinellas50]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Great advice given here. My only advised is to ensure that you know where the wires are going to the cap now. Even just marking #1 is fine. Any of them really. Then just put the new wires on.

The reason I say the above is that I just pulled all my wires off. I figured I have been doing this enough that I could easily figure out where the wires are supposed to go. I didn't take into account that the distributor might have been dropped in 180 degrees out(which it was) and someone might have switched plug wires around from their stock location to make it run in lieu of pulling the distributor and dropping it correctly.

 

[SY2932]

Re: Cap and Rotor

I'm surprised no one posted Richard Le's firing order diagram or tip to remove the rotor.

 

[Syclone Rob]

Re: Cap and Rotor

remove the rotor.

I tried this and all it did was start to bend the tool since the distributor shaft lightly rusts and the rotor seizes on.. This happened everytime I go to change it. Any tips?

 

[SY2932]

Re: Cap and Rotor

I smear a liitle synthetic grease inside the rotor before I install it so that it doesn't rust on... Never have a problem removing it on any of my trucks, I can usually just pull it off by hand.

 

[Don W.]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Any hardware store will have a "mini" pry bar. Which you should have anyway if you don't already. Otherwise you can grab it with a Chanel Lock plier and just brake it. Yur gonna replace it anyway. Little bit of heat might work but be careful.

 

[turbodig]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Any hardware store will have a "mini" pry bar. Which you should have anyway if you don't already. Otherwise you can grab it with a Chanel Lock plier and just brake it. Yur gonna replace it anyway. Little bit of heat might work but be careful.

I usually just hit the old rotor with a screwdriver from the top down... splits in half.
Gotta make sure the little metal clip in there doesn't fall down into the magnetic pickup, though, if you do it that way.

 

[MaxTTY]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Cool, thanks a lot everybody for the input. I remember it being fairly straight forward. I am excited to get rid of the damn pinging once I hit any boost.
I was super pissed last night when I pulled out the plugs and saw that they said "DOUBBLE PLATINUM" I was ready to walk down to the dealer the previous owner took it to for maintinence and tossed them thru the window.
I am sure the cap and rotor is toasted. My old 98 S10 I had with a Vortec super charger had platinums from the original owner and the cap/rotor was hammered!

Thanks again!

 

[gkrcr882]

Re: Cap and Rotor

When I checked everything out on mine, I noticed some light corrosion on the cap terminals and the rotor. Being as it was late, I lightly sanded it off, and sprayed the cap and rotor with WD40. Truck runs smoother now, and its sealed against water. Did manage to bust a knuckle open when pulling the rotor off though.

 

[MaxTTY]

Re: Cap and Rotor

I got the wires in and the shaft. Took it for a test drive and Im firing on all cylenders. My bottom end hesitation is gone but I'm still pinging under boost. Tomorrow is another day.

Next question, the cap just pops off right? Pull up and shimmy side to side action? Do I need to pry, unscrew, or loosen anything to get it off?

I will definately hit my terminals with some anti-corrosive spray.

Regards

 

[gkrcr882]

Re: Cap and Rotor

2 screws, one on the drivers side, other is on the passengers side. Very small, I used a 1/4" drive ratchet with an extension to get them off. I dont know the size off the top of my head.

 

[Flyin Ryan]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Pinging? you can hear it pinging? if so don't drive it anymore until you locate the source because with these motors if you can hear it then it's far worse then you think... these motors aren't like a small block 350 or a ford 302, they can't and will not take detonation and allot of times by the time you can actually hear detonation it's too late.. so I would seriously reach out to any local syty's for some data logging help.. someone with software and a laptop that can scan and datalog your truck to see exactly how bad it's detonating.. also did you check your timing and fuel pressure?? and make sure of what chip you have in the ecm.. if it's Kenne Bell best remove it and do a compression check

 

[SY2932]

Re: Cap and Rotor

2 screws, one on the drivers side, other is on the passengers side. Very small, I used a 1/4" drive ratchet with an extension to get them off. I dont know the size off the top of my head.

They should be 7/32".

Pinging? you can hear it pinging? if so don't drive it anymore until you locate the source because with these motors if you can hear it then it's far worse then you think... these motors aren't like a small block 350 or a ford 302, they can't and will not take detonation and allot of times by the time you can actually hear detonation it's too late.. so I would seriously reach out to any local syty's for some data logging help.. someone with software and a laptop that can scan and datalog your truck to see exactly how bad it's detonating.. also did you check your timing and fuel pressure?? and make sure of what chip you have in the ecm.. if it's Kenne Bell best remove it and do a compression check

DITTO. If you can HEAR knock, you have a MAJOR problem ! Either park the truck or stay out of boost until you get it fixed. Our engines wil not tolerate detonation for very long before they break in a big way...

 

[Tooky]

Re: Cap and Rotor

You know I've been waiting for an opportunity to use this!!! :lol:

But seriously, you're on the right track. Finish the tune up, check the timing while you're digging around the distributor, and get it on a scan tool so you can figure out what's up. :tup:

 

[MaxTTY]

Re: Cap and Rotor

Cap and rotor in.... still have that faint crackle crackle crackle when i hit boost. Should i disconnect the battery for 30+ mins or would that not help? I have a new fuel filter I will install and a new coil on hand, would those help? I guess after that is check fuel pressure, then timing.

All and any input appreciated. I am not going to lie, just looking under the hood intimidates me. Everything you guys have replied with has been a big help.

Thanks

 

[Don W.]

Re: Cap and Rotor

No need to disconnect bat just pull the ECM 1 fuse for 30 secs, not minutes. Not sure what "crackel" means. Have you actually set timing yet? With the brown wire (under dash, pas side, just above, maybe under, upper edge of carpet) disconnected?