MSD Ignition Upgrade problems

Car in Question: 95 Civic LX Auto
In the very humid Akron, Ohio...

Got a great deal on an MSD 6AL and after some reading I decided that I'd upgrade my coil/ignition system.

Ended up with a MSD 6AL, Blaster 3 Coil, and MSD Distributer cap for around $150 total.. all new. Got together with a couple of friends and several beers later we had it installed without any major complications. I didn't have a new rotor so 2-3 days later I replaced the old one with new..

That was close to 1 month ago and everything has been fine. Love the extra HP and altogether my car runs much smoother and I've even managed to up my gas mileage a little. Good stuff.

So on Saturday I hop in the car to shoot off to my girlfriends house and at the first stop light I come to... my car dies. I mean- just shuts off.. no sputtering.. just look down and the dash is black and and the next song never came on the CD. Try to restart it... And it seems to get plenty of charge- tries to turn over.. tries like a MFer but it just won't start.. Push my car off the road and investigate.

Check all the distributer cap/coil wires and visibly everything is fine. Pop the Dist. Cap off and whoa! My brand new rotor is totally corroded. I use a screwdriver to scrape it to see some metal.. and the car fires right up. So now I'm thinking.. why did this happen? Don't want it to happen again. Hmmmm.

So I ask my friend and read some more and it seems like I should vent the cap so the gases trapped in there can escape and won't corrode the rotor (or worse).. And there is a vent on the cap so I pop it off and replace the rotor again and all seems fine. Like new.

Enter Problem #2...
I live in Ohio. It rains. a lot. there is a 20 degree temperature drop every night and in the morning my car is always covered with dew and condensation. Twice now since opening the vent I've had trouble starting my car in the morning. My first thought is condensation, since after a slight bit of effort I'm able to start but I don't like to be out there cranking my starter like there's no tommorrow.

Anyone have any ideas? Am I barking up the wrong tree with the humidity thing?

Help!

[ebpda9]

hmm that stuff happened to me before, the car jsut refused to start. it turned out to be some coroded battery terminals and conectors. i fixed it on the spot and never had problems again.

Ok thx HM...

this got me thinking. This has become a firly regular problem.. but only in the morning after sitting all night.

To get the car to start (if it won't on it's own) I've been taking off the negative cable from the battery, poppin off the dist cap and looking inside for moisture or buildup on the rotor.

So far- no moisture. The new rotor doesn't look as fresh or clean as I think it should.. but then I put it all back together and ... Vrrrrooooom. No problem.

So after you mentioned the terminal I took a better look at mine. There is no corrosion there but my negative terminal connector won't tighten down all the way. It fits snug but with a slight twisting action I can pop it off without loosening the nut. Still it's making a connection (spark) so it should start right?

[deeperair35]

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