On Sat, 10 Apr 1999, Accumap Services Ltd. wrote:
> I pulled the distributor cap off and the wire from the case to the points
> had burned up. All sorts of melting went on. Did it just short out or could
> there be some other source? The wife and kids are away for the weekend so I
> was hoping to get it going. No time for research, please help.
If I get it right, that little wire is a cotton-covered job that is prone
to fraying. It may have frayed enough to short out.
There are actually 2 cotton wires, one from the external lug on the
distributor body (connects the coil lead to one half of the points), and
another that connects the moveable distributor plate to the distributor
body (for the other side of the points)
My coil-end wire was badly frayed and I replaced it before any troubles
arose.
You might be able to use a different sort of wire as a temporary fix, like
test lead wire or microphone wire, but I'm not really sure if that's a
good idea. The original stuff is braided copper so that it's really
flexible.
How much melting went on inside the cap? (ie, what melted?) On my car
the metal heater hose is quite close to the hot lug for the coil (outside
the distributor); maybe it shifted and shorted out.
-Malcolm ('62 TR4)
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