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1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks 1987 - 1996 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350 and larger pickups - including the 1997 heavy-duty F250/F350+ trucks

Arching on distributor cap

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Old Yesterday | 04:41 PM
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Arching on distributor cap

94 F350 460. This doesn’t look like normal wear to me, it kinda looks like arching. Am I wrong?.The cap only has about 15K miles on it.
 
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Old Today | 05:03 AM
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There is an electrical storm of arcing in the distributor cap normally. The spark needs to jump to the post some how. The rotor only makes physical contact with the center post of the distributer. All other post are about 0.030" away from the rotor and the spark jumps to the post via arching.
Your cap looks normal.
 
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Old Today | 07:03 AM
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agreed. cap looks normal, and also looks like a better quality unit with brass contacts instead of the cheaper aluminum contact caps most places sell the past 20 or so years.
 
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Old Today | 07:22 AM
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Are you asking about this?


Or the brass terminal?
 
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Old Today | 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by My4Fordtrucks
Are you asking about this?


Or the brass terminal?
No the wear on the center part of the terminal.
Thanks everyone
 
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Old Today | 09:25 AM
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Looks normal to me
The cap and rotor are scheduled replacement at 60k miles
By then they will show significant wear
The aluminum terminal ones are wat worse for buildup
There is acid created inside the cap when the spark jumps the gap
That acid forms small droplets you can sometimes see, it's no big deal, that is normal too, it is what builds up the white corrosion on the aluminum cap terminals
Your brass ones are better for that, the acid does not affect those brass ones
 
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