I wasn't going to post this but......

[a.d._510_n_ok]

Yesterday I took the Dat to a car wash about ten miles from the house. I thought about it and said, "What the hell - I'll pop the hood and use the pre-soak and spot-free rinse cycles to knock some dust off the engine".

 

I kept telling myself, "Stay away from the distributor"......but I went to spray off the fender well in full "wash" mode and accidentally soaked the dizzy and ICM.......yeah, she died deader than decade old dog doody.

 

No biggy, I thought. It'll dry out.

 

Three hours later it was as dead as it ever was.

 

Six hours later it was still boobs-up.

 

Finally I started calling the parts houses to see about getting a new ICM:

 

O'reilly's: $269/gotta order it:

 

Advance $199/gotta order it:

 

Auto Zone $135/gotta order and ya gotta prepay and can't really order it until Monday.

 

I let the Dat sit a good seven hours and finally told the wife, "We gotta tow it home". She's helped me tow a bunch, is real good at it and hates to do it.

 

I fired up the '64 Fairlane and threw my tow chains in the trunk. We got to the car wash and I tried the Dat a few more times - no dice. So I found a spot on the Dat and hooked the other end to my '64.....forgot to tell the wife that ya have to put the Dat in neutral AND unlock the steering. She did the former but not the latter :D.

 

We got rolling, had a few sharp tugs and rolled home in about twenty minutes.

 

I tried the Dat a few times through the night (actually drained the battery) but it remained dead.

 

This afternoon the wife "got in the Zone" (which is about eighteen miles from our house) and pre-paid 'em $147 for a new ICM to be delivered "umm, I'm not real sure......may-beeeee Thursday but we'll call ya!".

 

She comes home, hands me the receipt and tells me the deal. Just for the hell of it I picked up my Dat keys and started walking that way. The wife said,"Ya gonna try it?" and I said, "Yeah, what the hell....."

 

I jammed the key in the ignition, hit the gas pedal twice, cranked it and it fired up like your Granny's sewing machine :lol:!

 

The old lady said, "G*ddamit, honey!" and laughed. I said, "Are you still here!?! Go get my money back and pick us up somethin' for dinner!".

 

I called Auto Zone, explained the deal and the clerk who waited on my wife was real cool.

 

I love my bullet proof Dat, ya'll!!!!

 

:fu:

Edited March 9, 2009 by a.d._510_n_ok

[fisch]

Great story and a great wife!! I'm glad you shared!

[hang_510]

gotta order and ya gotta prepay and can't really order it until ...

 

our return motto when i worked at an electronics store: if the part you bought and installed wasnt the problem, you now have a spare.

glad you could return a special order item!!!

 

 

BTW, next time, i have a spare module avail (for anyone really)

[datsunaholic]

Did you even try taking the cap off and drying it? My truck, it ran fine in a absolute downpour until I turned it off... wouldn't restart. Even 8 hours later. Took the cap off and the inside was soaked. Dried with a rag, put it back on, fired right up.

[lynchfourtwenty]

Did you even try taking the cap off and drying it? My truck, it ran fine in a absolute downpour until I turned it off... wouldn't restart. Even 8 hours later. Took the cap off and the inside was soaked. Dried with a rag, put it back on, fired right up.

 

hahaha i was gonna say the same thing.. my step dad owned an auto detail shop when i was younger.. so i know all about dryin the dizzy cap an rotor an such.. next time just put a plastic bag over it :lol:

 

and what the hell is an icm? u talkin bout the matchbox on the the dizzy? if so that price is outrageous.. u could pick up a whole new dizzy for that.. u could get a used one from someone for cheaper.. lol

[a.d._510_n_ok]

Did you even try taking the cap off and drying it? My truck, it ran fine in a absolute downpour until I turned it off... wouldn't restart. Even 8 hours later. Took the cap off and the inside was soaked. Dried with a rag, put it back on, fired right up.

 

Years ago I knew I had an old dried out cap on my '64. I washed the engine and the thing died. Since it's ignition system was points at the time I wasn't worried a bit. I sprayed the inside of the cap with carb cleaner and had the engine back up and running in no time.

 

With the Dat I guess I freaked and thought, "Water in the brain box = screwed brain box -OMG!".

[lynchfourtwenty]

what engine does it have, an i was i right about the match box or? im confused lol

[philcas1987]

Do yourself a favor and convert to a gm hei 4 pin module. They are way cheaper, and you can find them anywhere.

[datzenmike]

Don't worry about the matchbox. Nissan isn't about to build something that sits directly behind the rad and fan that craps out from a little water. They are a sealed solid state device. The same can't be said for the cap and wires. I push the wires through the finger tips of a Nitrile (synthetic rubber) glove, then roll the rest of the glove down over the cap and distributor body like a condo. Seals out all water. Period! Don't use latex the oil/gas will dissolve them.

[lynchfourtwenty]

ya datsuns arent fords..

[a.d._510_n_ok]

Do yourself a favor and convert to a gm hei 4 pin module. They are way cheaper, and you can find them anywhere.

 

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

 

The slant six boys love those things! They keep telling me to forget about putting a Pertronix in my daughter's '61 Plymouth and just do this:

 

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15779

[datsunaholic]

Judging by his pic/sig I think he has a '80 510, which would have either a matchbox dist or an internally-fired 8-plug dist (california emissions, but could be a transplant). Neither have a "brain box".

[mike]

If your cap is pretty loose you can bend the holding clips a little so that there is more curve to them and it will tighten them right up. Also if youre running through a bunch of puddles and stuff you can put a thin layer (not even a bead just a little more than a skim coat) of RTV around the bottom of your cap. Dont goop it up though.

 

I did the RTV thing on my old blazer wheeling rig and it worked like a champ. I ditched the stock air cleaner for a "bling" aluminum edelbrock that either drained water directly onto the dizzy or if it got past the air cleaner it would pour straight into the carb... Hung the POS on the garage wall along with the K&N and stuck a stocker back on.

 

WD40 will also help with a wet cap, Ive used carb cleaner and a lighter (very sparingly;)) to get the moisture gone too. Watch the carb cleaner method though, if you melt the cap youre pretty much screwed.

[ggzilla]

Yes you can spray the inside of the cap with ether (starting fluid) it will wash the water out then evaporate itself.

 

Matchbox is same for all four cylinders (and six too I think) about $35 at a wrecking yard.

[4cylinders]

hey, always have a can of wd40, moisture dispersent. works every time.