Corroded coil wire

Howard R · Post by **Howard R** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:48 pm

I pulled the coil wire out of the distributor and found the terminal corroded, greenish color and brittle. The wire set was from an MSD package. There was only about 600 miles of use. I put on a new terminal, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what the cause was. I have a spare coil wire in the trunk, just in case.

Daryl Smith · Post by **Daryl Smith** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 2:12 pm

Only thing I can think of is that some moisture must have been trapped in there.
Clean it up good and make sure it is good and dry.

Cheers

Post by **dbrick** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:06 pm

It may also be dissimilar metal (galvanic) corrosion. Is the dist cap terminal aluminum or does it look like brass or copper plate? You may want to change the cap if it looks "cheap". If you can, also strip back the coil wire and reterminate it with a new terminal.

You can get a dielectric grease that goes on the metal to metal contact of the ign wire to dist cap and also at the plug, stops dissimilar metal corrosion and keeps moisture out. Also prevents arcing. It used to be required on Ford electronic ignition back 20 years ago.