Doing a tune-up on newly acquired XJ with the accel tune-up kit and had a quick question about the distributor cap. Doesn't really look like there's much of a seal between the cap and the distributor, it's just plastic on plastic, no gasket or o-ring or anything, plus it looks like there's a big gap where the wires go in.

I was always under the impression that this was supposed to be an air-tight seal to keep moisture out and it doesn't look like this could be with even the newest of components. I don't plan on doing any deep water crossings or anything like that, but I do have a hard start issue when it's raining out (fine when it's dry out) which led me to do the tune-up as the first step.

I don't really want to go slathering this thing with silicone if it's unneeded. Is the plastic on plastic with the wire gap fine, or should I seal the thing up with silicone?

 

no that plastic on plastic gap i think is normal. but u shouldnt have any problems. go ahead and do it. good luck man.

 

yea water could get in there if i really wanted to but i haven't had a problem with mine, just don't be going all baha through puddles

 

Should be fine but it wouldnt hurt to go to the harware store and grab some thin foam rubber strips and stickem on there for a better seal. you can just peel it off easy. if your still having the starting issue then something else is getting wet.

 

I always put thin layer of silicone on the cap when I put mine on

 

pic please

 

if your talking about the electrodes on the bottom side of the cap, thats where the rotor touches

 

Yes there is no gasket or seal. It is not watertight. I sealed mine with silicone because of the water crossings and added a long hose in the middle where the vent cap was.

 

I put it back together as is with no silicone for now. After I pulled the plugs and saw their condition, I think I may have found out why it was having a hard start issue when wet out. there was barely any electrode left and the gap was huge. I'm really surprised it ran as well as it did.

If it still has issues I'll seal the cap as suggested for the next step, but I think I'll stick with just making one change at a time for now. Thanks for the input!