Thanks for your insights! We’ve had rain most every day for two weeks and some serious flash flooding here, so as you pointed out, that could create a moisture problem. When I replaced cap and rotor button a year ago, the old cap was cracked at one of the two places where the cap is held down. Inside, the metal plate under the rotor button had some rust on it. So I’ll pull the cap and check for moisture. Do I need to remove rust with some navel jelly or similar? Any suggestions for preventing moisture from getting in the cap? I.e. gasket, cover, etc. ?
Good idea on the wires/cables battery. I’ll check them as well. I went out for test drive tonight and stoped off at a friends for an hour. 2 minutes after starting to leave, I’m pulling out and the entire dash blinks off for 1 second then back on like nothing ever happened. Are you thinking that could be a loose battery cable? Thanks.
I wouldn't worry about the rust inside the distributor if it's minor. I know I have some in my distributor, but it shouldn't resurface or be a problem unless it's
really ugly and scaled.
Personally I had not found a solution for the moisture problem when I had my truck. Seemed like clockwork...Every two years (give or take), I'd have to change the cap and rotor. I tried sanding the contacts, cleaning/drying with contact cleaner, using dielectric grease, all the simple band-aids never worked for me. I begrudgingly bought OE branded stuff (Delphi or AC Delco, even if it's double the part store prices) after my aftermarket cap woes. That lead to a longer story - that cap helped me destroy a starter and knock a few teeth off the flexplate from its "backfires," while cranking. Stranded me on a few accounts at inopportune times. ...But back to the issue at hand!
Your dash blinking off could be a good indicator of a power problem. If the engine stumbled a bit at the same time, I would suspect power connections.
I had a stereo in my old truck, too. I ended up replacing the factory positive battery bolt for a longer one...So I could stack another lug on there. If you did the same, I'll share this:
The longer bolt came out to be too long by like - half a thread. If you felt it with a wrench, it was plenty tight because it was bottomed out in the battery. Turns out my bolted connection was just barely putting enough pressure on the lugs. You can shorten the bolt or add a washer or two for an inexpensive fix.
I'm just spitballin' here, not sure what your whole setup looks like. But we'll do as much as we can before we start looking into replacing parts!
