Anyone running the United Motors vented distributor cap?

[HotWheelsBurban]

That looks very familiar. It's very similar to the Davis Unified Ignition I use in my trucks. Right down to the color and material imagine. Possibly made by/in the same factory?

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Those 4.3 caps look odd; not enough nipples! You could be right about the manufacturer though. I wanted a Blue Streak cap for the better grade plastic and brass contacts. But apparently Standard/Blue Streak doesn't make one for vortecs! So I found this one on RockAuto, for $28 plus shipping. I like that it has a vent; this could be a good thing in Houston humidity!
The contacts on the old cap were worn and a little crusty. Changing the spark plugs, rotor( a Blue Streak one to replace the Blue Streak one that had been on it for 2 years), air filter, PCV valve, coil wire, all last weekend, and the new cap yesterday, the Burb runs better and smoother. Back to more like it was before, where you almost had to look at the tach to be sure it was running! Not too bad for a 22 year old truck with 196,000 miles on it, that gets driven in Houston traffic every day....
And I went to the blue rotor because I was replacing the cheaper white ones every 6 months. I think the Blue Streak one is less than 10 bucks and the white ones are around $6 or $7. Worth a couple bucks to not have to crawl up there and worry about dropping a screw or tools.....

 

[Supercharged111]

Those 4.3 caps look odd; not enough nipples! You could be right about the manufacturer though. I wanted a Blue Streak cap for the better grade plastic and brass contacts. But apparently Standard/Blue Streak doesn't make one for vortecs! So I found this one on RockAuto, for $28 plus shipping. I like that it has a vent; this could be a good thing in Houston humidity!
The contacts on the old cap were worn and a little crusty. Changing the spark plugs, rotor( a Blue Streak one to replace the Blue Streak one that had been on it for 2 years), air filter, PCV valve, coil wire, all last weekend, and the new cap yesterday, the Burb runs better and smoother. Back to more like it was before, where you almost had to look at the tach to be sure it was running! Not too bad for a 22 year old truck with 196,000 miles on it, that gets driven in Houston traffic every day....
And I went to the blue rotor because I was replacing the cheaper white ones every 6 months. I think the Blue Streak one is less than 10 bucks and the white ones are around $6 or $7. Worth a couple bucks to not have to crawl up there and worry about dropping a screw or tools.....

The factory distributor housing has a breather in the base. It's a screen, check to see if it's plugged.

 

[Pinger]

I've been looking at the caps on Rock Auto's site and there's this one >> https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2063344&cc=1353057&pt=7120&jsn=468 which also has brass terminals.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Well I got the UMP one and put it on the Burb in April. Been working great! Even in a pouring rain,it starts like it should.
They sent it in a nice sturdy box with extra padding inside. First pic is the old cap, which I installed in 2013 when we got the truck,has 65 thou on it. I marked the boots with paint marker to be sure and get them back on in the correct order. Brightens up the back of the motor too!

 

[kenh]

My "90" C1500 was eating ICM's for lunch. Replacing one every week at the last. (all lifetime warranty replacements) I installed a treasure yard coil, replacing a newer Accel coil. I snagged a good dizzy from the yard and stabbed it in only to pull it right back out an hour later to replace it with a better dizzy from a $250 engine I bought. About two weeks now and no issues. Yes kind of a parts cannon approach! I have a sneaking suspicion the timing mark on my harmonic balancer has slipped. When setting the timing I advanced it 3 or 4 degrees and the engine sounded MUCH happier at idle and when revved up. Seems to "run cooler" also even though the temp gauge is the same.

Ken

 

[98 Nitro]

How long did those United ones last? With the recent moisture/humidity in the air here in Indiana my cap is seemingly acting up a little bit.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

How long did those United ones last? With the recent moisture/humidity in the air here in Indiana my cap is seemingly acting up a little bit.

I've got 2 years on the one in my Burb, and until November that truck was getting driven every day in Houston, Texas area traffic, in all kinds of weather.
I think I need to get the one I bought for Rawhide on him, he has been running lopey in the morning when it's humid. Sunday morning, trying to go to the yards, didn't think he'd stay running. But no codes set, and once it warmed up and made the moisture go away, runs good.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Solve the problem basically for good, vacuum vent the thing. It is not hard, its cheap, and it works.

Materials

1/8"-27 NPT tap and 27/64" drill bit
2 x 1/8 NPT to 1/4" barb 90" brass or plastic fittings
3/16" or 1/4" fuel filter
3/16" or 1/4" check valve
3/16" or 1/4" hose splice
3/16" or 1/4" hose T
Dorman 47311
I used 3/16" vacuum hose so that everything fit very snuggly and did not require clamps.

Drill and tap the distributor base in a place that you can get the 90" nipples into and turn for install, I put them 180* apart and pointed the nipples the same orientation as the plug wires. If needed the nipple end can be slightly shortened. The T goes into the hose for the factory a/c heater controls, then the check valve so that engine vacuum pulls air from the distributor body but a back fire or fuel will not enter the distributor body, then the orifice, then the filter, then a hose to one of the barbs on the base. The second hose gets fresh air vented to it from the air intake system behind the air filter and in front of the throttle body. When the engine is running it continually pulls the ozone and moisture out of the distributor housing and replaces it with fresh, filtered air. Seal the factory screen if it is still there or use its opening for one of the barbs. I sealed the cap to the base with RTV as an added measure to keep moisture out. My aluminum base did not have a vent, which is why I set it up this way when I first installed it.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Solve the problem basically for good, vacuum vent the thing. It is not hard, its cheap, and it works.

Materials

1/8"-27 NPT tap and 27/64" drill bit
2 x 1/8 NPT to 1/4" barb 90" brass or plastic fittings
3/16" or 1/4" fuel filter
3/16" or 1/4" check valve
3/16" or 1/4" hose splice
3/16" or 1/4" hose T
Dorman 47311
I used 3/16" vacuum hose so that everything fit very snuggly and did not require clamps.

Drill and tap the distributor base in a place that you can get the 90" nipples into and turn for install. If needed the nipple end can be slightly shortened. The T goes into the hose for the factory a/c heater controls, then the check valve so that engine vacuum pulls air from the distributor body but a back fire or fuel will not enter the distributor body, then the orifice, then the filter, then a hose to one of the barbs on the base. The second hose gets fresh air vented to it from the air intake system behind the air filter and in front of the throttle body.

^^^ - OR, move to AZ

 

[L31MaxExpress]

^^^ - OR, move to AZ

Distributors still make Ozone gas even in AZ.

I guess I should state that Ozone gas is very corrosive to the electronic workings of the distributor. It causes that fuzzy looking corrosion on everything. Why GM did not positively vent their distributors is a mystery to me. The older import cars from both Europe and Asia almost always had vacuum vented distributors and their caps and rotors lasted for a decade sometimes. One that came to mind that stood out to me was the older Toyota FJ I6. Those things would be 20 years old and have the OEM cap and rotors on them.