HOW DO WE AVOID THE DREADED DISTRIBUTOR CONDENSATION ?

[r44raven]

Hi Everyone,

Over here, we suffering the usual damp, cold days, with temperatures struggling to get above freezing (mild, I guess, for many of you over there in the States), but my question relates to our E500E’s, and how we might avoid the dreaded moisture in the distributors?

My intention was to garage my 500E throughout most of this winter, not least to avoid salty roads. However, in an endeavour to minimise the risk of the aforementioned condensation in the distributors, I made a habit, every 2/3 weeks or so, of starting the engine and letting it idle up to “normal” temperature – and then re-garaging car.

However, today it appears the dreaded moisture struck! After initially starting and idling normally, as the engine warmed up it started misfiring/spluttering/backfiring, to a point were I had to shut it down. It now won't restart apart from much misfiring/backfiring.

I haven’t “pulled” the distributor caps as yet, but assuming the problem is the dreaded damp, how best to avoid this?

I have been told that in doing what I had been, i.e. allowing the engine to warm up, then re-garage the car, I could well be exacerbating the problem - and that it would be better either to (a) not start/warm up the engine at all, or (b) if I did, then I should take the car out for a good hour/50 mile run.

My garage has “minimal” background heating – just sufficient to stop everything getting damp, and in so far as the car is concerned, we have “extended” the ventilation slots cut in the distributor caps to make them a little larger (having the foreknowledge re damp).

The caps, rotors and insulators were renewed 15 months ago.

Any suggestions, anyone?

 

[samiam44]

Just curious,

Why not simply loosen the caps and leave them open till you plan on driving the car again? I find that the key is heat + airflow around the engine from being driven. Let mine sit outside for a month in the rain and it was a little fussy but it dried out in about 5-10 minutes of driving@50 mph.

 

[gsxr]

I have been told that in doing what I had been, i.e. allowing the engine to warm up, then re-garage the car, I could well be exacerbating the problem - and that it would be better either to (a) not start/warm up the engine at all, or (b) if I did, then I should take the car out for a good hour/50 mile run.

I would heartily second this suggestion. If you are going to start the engine, the car must be driven to get all fluids up to operating temp. When it idles in the driveway/garage, only the coolant temp comes up to normal... engine oil and ATF remain cool. It doesn't need to be an hour/50-mile run but that would be idea. Minimum would be probably 20 minutes at freeway speeds, 20-30 miles or so. It takes a really long time for oil+ATF to reach operating temp when ambient temps are near freezing.

There's no problems storing a car over the winter (say, 4-8 months) and not starting the engine in that time. Just keep a "smart" trickle charger connected so the battery and all electrics remain stable, and prior to storage add a healthy dose of fuel stabilizer like Sta-Bil 360 (click here). There was a detailed thread on this topic a few years back with lots of good suggestions for winter storage. Critical items are fuel stabliser & trickle charge, along with airing up the tyres, and a few other tidbits depending how picky you are.

Anyway - I am surprised you are having this much trouble with misfiring if the caps/rotors AND insulators are new. You may be on to something with the idea that idling in the garage may be actually causing the problem.

 

[lowman]

"but assuming the problem is the dreaded damp, how best to avoid this"

Any suggestions, anyone?

hey
How to avoid it..would be NOT to start the car and let it sit and idle to driving temperature.You are creating alot of moisture around and on the engine doing this...and most likely this is the cause for your "spluttering" situation.

if you are not driving the car in the winter....IF you decide to start the car now and then..you HAVE to make shure to run it A LONG time...maybe even 30 minutes...45 minutes.to get the heat to soak through the engine.IT is NOT needed to drive it..but you will have to give it some throttle when it gets hotter..and maybe even holding the revs abit higher than "idle"...say around 1500 or something..pluss a burst of throttle now and then ...all the fluids will be pretty good temperature at that point..

But in the end...i reckon it IS better to leave the car ..withouth starting it through the winter..unless you really know what you are doing..when it comes to the procedure that would not hurt the engine...and cause TO much damp and moisture inside engine...and in engine bay..and in the exhaust system.

And my two cents....avoid fuel stabiliser....if this is the same as "condens/damp remover"....do NOT use it.
Fill your tank up before putting the car to storage...and there will be NO problems with water/damp in the fuel tank
cheers mate

 

[500AMM]

.

The problem is that it is no air circulation inside the caps, so all moisture will stay entrapped. The precut slots in the bottom section on the cap is to my understanding more like drain holes - but there is nothing to drain from the caps..?..

I did some testing on a set of worn caps on the Limited, as illustrated on the photoshoped image. Just some simple Dremel'ing with a cutting disc. Works fine and keep the caps dryer inside.

 

[Ascension]

It has been my understanding the issue occurred as the material in the insulators deteriorated over time. Had the issue on my car but what was on the back of those insulators was NOT water! It was some weird jell so question where this is just a normal moisture issue and caused from a lack of ventalation.