Strange distributor cap fault

[christopher storey]

I have just been getting my 4.2 OTS ready for the summer, and found it wouldn't start. Removing the dist cap revealed oil had got inside the distributor and been distributed ( pun intended ) everywhere . Whether it had come down the coil lead - most likely - or come upwards was hard to tell. I cleaned it all up, checked for spark at the coil lead ( good spark to earth ) and tried again. Dead . I then started checking continuity and found that there was no transmission of current through the carbon brush . Could a soaking of the brush in oil over a period of months have caused this ?

I replaced the brush with a spare, and away we went . Strange

[mgcjag]

Hi Christopher.... good news that you got it going.....oils are used in some transformers as an insulator......so quite possible that soaking into your carbon bush caused it to fail ele trically......after all you replaced it and it worked

[tim wood]

Possibly oil leaking from the coil, running down the lead ?

Coil failure imminent?

[christopher storey]

Ah, yes, Tim, that's a good point , and I shall check for it.