Distributor Cap washing

[M5power]

well i really dont know alot about my spark plugs and everything like that. but well my 2nd cylinder isn't firing, theres no spark at all between the two, but every other one is fine. i was told by a friend it could be my distributor cap. i was also told that cleaning it in the dishwasher would help my starts and help my firing problem. is it the distributor cap? or what other things could i check so that im not only running off 5 cylinders thanks for the help!

[Furious]

what year is your car? you may actually have coil packs instead of rotor/cap style.

[M5power]

its an old buy mean 1985 528E lemme know if it does have the coil pack instead of rotor caps. thanks!

[TECH]

Originally posted by M5power@Jan 21 2004, 11:47 PM
its an old buy mean 1985 528E lemme know if it does have the coil pack instead of rotor caps. thanks!

Yeah, you've got a distributor, complete with plug wires. How do you know that you don't have ignition spark on that cylinder? You could have a bad plug, plug wire. The cap and rotor is a possibility as well.
Try using a different plug wire (rob peter to pay paul) and seeing if that works. You can swap plugs too if need be.
Then, you an pull the cap and check the contacts, they are likely burnt looking, as will be the rotor. You can lightly sand the contacts if they aren't too bad, to see if that helps.

[M5power]

well, got my distributor cap brand new and now it is in perfect working condition. all 6 cylinders are firing perfect, thanks to a process of elimination we narrowed it down to the distributor cap

[Danny Kiwi]

Same Problem..with My Dizzy and Rotor in my E28535i,,,and what a hell of a job to get at too..
My Radiator had moved foreward and we had to sort of move the motor back to get the Fan off
After cleaning all this Green Muck off the contacts and giving a sanding, the car is running like its old self(it was almost impossible to start when WARM before)...
Those Dizzy Caps that corrode up can drive you mad...

[M5power]

really? wow mine was just screw it off and get it out of the way of the fan. i didnt take the fan off, just moved it in circles until i could fit it between the blades