>The DPO also put a newer plug-in type upright distributor cap on the original
>distributor which normally has the side entry wires. I don't know if this
>makes a difference, cap looks almost new and the rotor and contacts look good
>inside, but I'm going back to the side entry cap and wires.
It would be my suspicion that the cap is not the problem-at least not in
terms of it being the side entry versus the top entry styles. Side entry
was original on the A and early B engines. The wires sort of screw into the
cap, and have a hard plastic and copper arrangement to attach at the plug.
I've run the later top entry cap on my 18G engine with no problems. I do it
mostly because the newer style wires suitable to the top entry cap also have
the soft rubber sleves that seem to make a more water tight seal, both at
the cap and at the plug. There is no such option, to the best of my
knowledge, for the side entry style. If the contacts are clean and the cap
is not cracked, I'm not sure what else could be wrong with it that would
contribute to your idle problem.
I'm intrigued by the fact that the idle wanders over about a 500 rpm range
(that's what I get from your original posting). Is the idle wander regular
(rhythmic) or is it sort of random? My jag has a pretty rythmic fluctuation
in idle (over about 200 rpm). My mechanic and I never really found the
problem, but decided that as it spends about 1% of the time at idle, and
otherwise runs fine, to just not stew over it.
Any net-thoughts on this?
Will Zehring
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