Car Talk: Moisture causes misfire with short circuit - The Union Leader
This car has an old-fashioned distributor cap and rotor. Most likely, when you forded the Nile that night, you got water inside the distributor cap, and it’s causing the misfire by creating a short circuit. And I’d suspect that your problem is exacerbated by old spark plug wires that “leak” electricity when there’s moisture or lots of humidity in the air. Distributors and old wires would get wet on rainy days, and cars would die and strand people. In your case, what’s happening is that the moisture that’s stuck inside the distributor cap is compromising your spark. The spark is sufficient when all the other conditions are perfect, but once rain or moist air steal additional energy via the old spark plug wires, the engine starts misfiring. Eventually, as the engine heats up, the moisture in the distributor evaporates, the plug wires warm up and dry out a bit, and the cylinders all fire. But when the engine gets cold, the moisture recondenses inside the distributor cap, and on the next rainy morning, you have the same problem. While you might be able to fix it by simply removing the distributor cap and drying it out really well, I’d recommend replacing the cap, the rotor and the wires. Source: www.unionleader.com
