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Unilite cap melted and rotor burnt. why?

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Old 10-24-2012, 10:29 AM
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Car: 84 z28
Engine: 400 sb RIP down to a 350
Transmission: turbo 400
Axle/Gears: posi 373
Unilite cap melted and rotor burnt. why?

I posted recently about my car having nowhere near the power it should(wouldnt spin the wheels) after my rebuild, and figured it was time to change the springs on my mallory unilite distributor w/o vacuum advance. I know it is old so I went to take a look if it was the style with a key or not(if anyone has any easy way to identify this please let me know)

When i took the cap off i noticed a lot of carbon build up on the rotor, and when i turned the cap over noticed it was melted on the center post. Does anyone know why this would happen? Is it the dizzy? bad ground? the msd box? Either way this may be the problem all along. Thank you in advance and I know buying a new distributor would be a good choice but id rather not sink any more money in!
Old 10-24-2012, 01:32 PM
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Re: Unilite cap melted and rotor burnt. why?

The carbon button in the cap has too high of a resistance. When combined with a CDI set up they overheat. I've seen caps where the button got so hot that it started to melt the cap.

RBob.
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