Hard Start When Damp...
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Electric drying agent will no absolutely NOTHING under a hood of a vehicle with ambient air able to flow in and out.
Not sure what year, but could be distributor cap and rotor issue.
What year is your truck? In later years there were issues with clogged vent holes in the distributor (drill them out) causing problems with condensation in the cap.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
Originally Posted By: yonyon
What year is your truck? In later years there were issues with clogged vent holes in the distributor (drill them out) causing problems with condensation in the cap.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
2001
What year is your truck? In later years there were issues with clogged vent holes in the distributor (drill them out) causing problems with condensation in the cap.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
2001
JTK
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I was going to guess a cap too, but that's non-existent on a 2001. The 4.3L went to coil packs by the mid 1990's. Maybe just old worn ignition wires?
I remember my dad's 1990 Chevy 4.3L W/T 1500 not starting at all if the distributor cap had the least amount of moisture in it. Common with aftermarket junk.
Joel
I remember my dad's 1990 Chevy 4.3L W/T 1500 not starting at all if the distributor cap had the least amount of moisture in it. Common with aftermarket junk.
Joel
i have that on my 96 caravan with the 3.3 on damp days sometimes it wont start
Should have cap, rotor and wires. Put them all on at once and use the grease they supply to not only lubricate wires snapping in correctly but helping to seal out moisture.
Could also be coil has small crack and is shorting out when wet not firing the plugs.
Could also be coil has small crack and is shorting out when wet not firing the plugs.
Originally Posted By: oldhp
Should have cap, rotor and wires. Put them all on at once and use the grease they supply to not only lubricate wires snapping in correctly but helping to seal out moisture.
Could also be coil has small crack and is shorting out when wet not firing the plugs.
Yep agreed...
A buddy has a '95 Ford van at his car lot with 170Kmi that wouldn't start when damp(as in this morning)... New plugs, wires, dist cap & rotor and it started instantly when we tried it after the fresh install... Plugs were original with well over .100 gap, center electrode was burned off even with the insulator...
Should have cap, rotor and wires. Put them all on at once and use the grease they supply to not only lubricate wires snapping in correctly but helping to seal out moisture.
Could also be coil has small crack and is shorting out when wet not firing the plugs.
Yep agreed...
A buddy has a '95 Ford van at his car lot with 170Kmi that wouldn't start when damp(as in this morning)... New plugs, wires, dist cap & rotor and it started instantly when we tried it after the fresh install... Plugs were original with well over .100 gap, center electrode was burned off even with the insulator...
On a high mileage older vehicle there likely won't be one problem but several... usually it's a combination of a porous, coil and/or dist cap and wires...In the case of the van I mentioned earlier, it had good spark at the coil but very little at the plugs due to damp cap and wires, only sure fix is replace it all...
May not be the problem, but sometimes the rubber above the firewall that contacts the back underside of the hood wears or has one or more cracks in it, allowing rain water to get to the engine. Sometimes water finds it way to some of the sparkplugs and the sparkplug insulator and boot end up sitting in the rain water. The other plugs without this problem will still fire good, and when the engine gets hot enough the water boils off and or falls off as the vehicle accelerates, brakes, goes around bends, goes up and down hills.
So if the vehicle has rubber that contacts the back underside of the hood check it.
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Another one (probably not your problem), some vehicles have a flexible rubber or some other water guard by the upper A frame gets moved when someone works on the vehicle, so that when the vehicle hits a puddle or water in a pothole water can splash onto the ignition wires.
So if the vehicle has rubber that contacts the back underside of the hood check it.
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Another one (probably not your problem), some vehicles have a flexible rubber or some other water guard by the upper A frame gets moved when someone works on the vehicle, so that when the vehicle hits a puddle or water in a pothole water can splash onto the ignition wires.
Yes, it is almost certainly electrical.
Marginal wires often short out in humid conditions.
A cracked cap the same.
For a quick fix, a dryer spray often helps. It has nothing to do with air flow - that is bizzare.
Marginal wires often short out in humid conditions.
A cracked cap the same.
For a quick fix, a dryer spray often helps. It has nothing to do with air flow - that is bizzare.
i had the same thing on my dodge 360. i fixed it buy putting JB weld in the vent hole. took me 5 years to figure it out. just plug the hole.
Originally Posted By: yonyon
What year is your truck? In later years there were issues with clogged vent holes in the distributor (drill them out) causing problems with condensation in the cap.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
This info above and the fact that the distributor cap base has a sponge rubber seal(material) that fits into a notch between the cap and the base of the distributor. This material deteriorates(gets a bit sticky), looses it's seal and allows moisture under the distributor cap.
Also, in our experience with these particular distributors(especially S-10's). The dist base which has drain holes to allow moisture to escape, get clogged. I have also seen screens where the drain holes are, that can be cleaned or completely removed.
What year is your truck? In later years there were issues with clogged vent holes in the distributor (drill them out) causing problems with condensation in the cap.
Other than that, moisture in the cap or old degraded spark wires are likely suspects.
This info above and the fact that the distributor cap base has a sponge rubber seal(material) that fits into a notch between the cap and the base of the distributor. This material deteriorates(gets a bit sticky), looses it's seal and allows moisture under the distributor cap.
Also, in our experience with these particular distributors(especially S-10's). The dist base which has drain holes to allow moisture to escape, get clogged. I have also seen screens where the drain holes are, that can be cleaned or completely removed.
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I had something similar and turned out to be a cracked plug which only acted up when damp or wet out. It look me forever to figure this out and changed the cap and rotor a few times before I figured it out.
The troubleshooting step someone recommended I try that found it was spraying water from a squirt bottle. I added some salt to the water too because said to be a better conductor that way. They recommended spraying from the plugs upwards to the cap and coil. Keep a lookout for any sparks when spraying. Mine actually stalled out the two times I hit the bad plug with the spray.
The troubleshooting step someone recommended I try that found it was spraying water from a squirt bottle. I added some salt to the water too because said to be a better conductor that way. They recommended spraying from the plugs upwards to the cap and coil. Keep a lookout for any sparks when spraying. Mine actually stalled out the two times I hit the bad plug with the spray.
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