something got wet...

[Jeff Aronson]

The distibutor does not produce the kind of heat that requires a "breather." Regardless of the type of distributor you choose [I favor the Lucas points one] moisture or water inside the distributor will result the very symptoms you encountered. In your case, you said the coil was bad, but possibly, you just had moisture in the distributor housing/spark plugs or coil wires, and that the failure was coincidental.

Dialectric grease is the goods for helping to make all those parts more water-resistant, and WD-40/ Silicon spray/PB Blaster will all help displace moisture/water to enable the voltage to produce the requisite spark.

It's worth considering new wires and distributor cap, too, if moisture/water continue to create running problems like these.

Jeff

[SafeAirOne]

I was under the impresion that the dizzy had to "breathe", wouldn't the grease seal it up too much?

I should clarify: when I say "When I had a vehilce that had a distributor", it was a 1969 Jeep M715 5/4ton military truck with a 12v civilian distributor fitted. It didn't need to breathe whatsoever.

The 2.25 distributor may have different requirements, I don't know. It's been decades since I've owned a series rover with a distributor.

Anyone else know??

[bmohan55]

couple questions

And, just to add my 2 cents---When I had a vehicle that had a distributor, I always carried a spray can of silicon lubricant. It REALLY displaces water and is pretty safe to go crazy with. I also used to smear a good thick bead of dielectric grease on the bottom of the distributor cap, then install it. Same with putting some in each ignition wire boot before installation. You'd be amazed at how well that keeps the water out of the ignition components.

Newbie question(s) on the highlighted part....I was under the impresion that the dizzy had to "breathe", wouldn't the grease seal it up too much?
Also in the middle of a rebuild now and plan on going Pretronix when it's back together, is it more water resistant than points?

[disco2hse]

...Making me wonder if you might have a different use for silicon lubricant in New Zeland than we do here in the States... something "root"-related...

Well if you know what kiwis do...

[albersj51]

HA! Never thought id start a convo like this on a Land Rover forum!! I Definitely picked the right car!

[Q]UOTE=SafeAirOne;60514]...Making me wonder if you might have a different use for silicon lubricant in New Zeland than we do here in the States... something "root"-related... [/QUOTE]

[SafeAirOne]

Umm. Yeah it really is quite handy to have around when the need arises

...Making me wonder if you might have a different use for silicon lubricant in New Zeland than we do here in the States... something "root"-related...

[disco2hse]

When I had a vehicle that had a distributor, I always carried a spray can of silicon lubricant. It REALLY displaces water and is pretty safe to go crazy with.

Umm. Yeah it really is quite handy to have around when the need arises

For external use only

[albersj51]

Thanks guys! Im going to pick up some dielectric grease this weekend and go to town! Called Amazon (where i bought the coil) and they're sending me a new one.

[SafeAirOne]

And, just to add my 2 cents---When I had a vehicle that had a distributor, I always carried a spray can of silicon lubricant. It REALLY displaces water and is pretty safe to go crazy with. I also used to smear a good thick bead of dielectric grease on the bottom of the distributor cap, then install it. Same with putting some in each ignition wire boot before installation. You'd be amazed at how well that keeps the water out of the ignition components.

[artpeck]

Must have shorted out and it fried. For what it is worth I went thought every electrical connection on my defender and cleaned the connections then used dielectric grease as I had constant gremlins of one sort or another. Since doing this it has run flawlessly. I will do the same on the series after I get a bunch of other stuff done.

[albersj51]

The pertronix coil (3 months old) pooped the bed. Pulled the HT lead and got a weak white spark. Put in the old Lucas and she fired right up...first time Lucas ever helped! Thanks for the help guys!

[Terrys]

WD-40, or CRC should be carried in any series truck.

[artpeck]

My two cents. First pull a wire of a plug and check for spark. If no spark Check all the electrical connections to the coil. Coil to dizzy etc. Still no spark use a cheap volt meter to see where you lose the connection. Power to coil, negative earth to dizzy. There are not that many things that could wrong here that would yield those symptoms. I suppose you could have sucked water Into the carb but that would have had to have been a mongo splash and likely would have killed the engine pretty immediately. Possible you might have fried the coil if water surged up there but again that would have been a definitive shut off versus what you saw.

[albersj51]

Darn it! First drinking too much beer makes me an alcoholic, and now i can't drink WD-40?! What's the world coming to!

Thanks, Mongoswede!

[mongoswede]

What is WD-40 safe to use on? Don't want to go rambo with it and foul something

safe on pretty much everything. Avoid contact with your eyes and try not to drink too much of it. Don't spray it on any brake linings.