Hi all,

Need to replace my distributor cap and rotor button on my 1992 F150 w/ 5.0.

Cannot find Motorcraft distributor cap or rotor button at local parts houses. Dealership wants double what parts house wants.

If I had to pick another brand besides Motorcraft, which is the next best one to choose? Obviously, it needs to be cost effective and in stock as well...

Looking for any and all input...must get these parts tomorrow.

Thanks,
Rick

 

Do you absolutely have to have Motorcraft? If not, then just see what your parts store has.

My parts store generally has a few different options- usually a 1 year, 3 year, or lifetime warranty. For something like a cap and rotor they usually only offer a 1 or 3 year warranty, and I go with the 3 because that's long enough to cover it until I replace it again.

See what else your store can offer you in terms of warranty and cost and make your decision based on what you need. Personally I don't get hung up on name brands when it comes to basic tune up parts- as long as there's a warranty on them that's all I need.

 

I bought an ACCEL cap and rotor from Advance Auto, because it had the brass contacts, as opposed to the aluminum contacts in lower cost parts. Its worked very well for the last 10 months.

 

Summit racing has the Ford racing motorcraft distributor cap and rotor for $44.95 part number M12106-B302. I run these same ones and have good luck with them. Hope this helps.

 

I get the MSD one that is available from Summit and Jegs as well as A'zone, Advance and Orielly.

I think the MSD is made better than the Ford Racing one. The MSD has brass contacts too. I believe the Ford Racing is aluminum.

I would not buy the cheapo stuff. I would rather have the Motorcraft parts. If you want Motorcraft, I bet Orielly can get it.

The Accel or Ford Racing stuff is good too.

 

This is what I use on all 5.0L that I work on. If I do a tune up it gets one.

 

accel cap and rotor is a good choice.

 

I personally like the MSD 84083 cap (extreme duty, black in color, $27.95) and rotor 8070 ($4.95) available from Summit, Jegs, Barnett Performance, etc

 

You only need a distributor cap that has aluminum posts on it. The best distributor cap would have pure copper posts because copper conducts electricity far better than aluminum, but this does not hold true for brass (an alloy of copper). Brass is in fact less conductive than aluminum but only by a small margin when compared to the conductive difference between brass or aluminum to pure copper. Though the brass lugs do look better than the aluminum, it just doesnt stack up conductively.

 

Accel here too. Got them when i got the coil. Over a year now and still going strong.

 

I used to grab the Weiland gold series (maybe it was welland) from Autozone but I'm pretty sure they're not carried anymore. I bought the remaining stock from mine when they were clearancing them out.

My thoughts are go cheap and replace it every year or go expensive and do it every 2... Your choice.
BTW Napa carries the MSD in stock around here.

 

I've seen cheap cap/rotors look worse with 15K miles than factory originals with well over 100K.

I currently have an MSD set on my 95 and it's holding up well with ~85K on it. It actually cost less than the parts store brand which I've had trouble with. I'll probably replace them in the near future. I think I'll go with Motorcraft this time though.