OK, I'll bite ... where is my car's distributor cap?

General Questions
#1

So, I’ve lost faith in yet another mechanic’s ability to fix (or even car about) my car’s problems. My car, a 1995 Geo Prizm (AKA Toyota Corolla), has been stuttering and hesitating for a while now, and my dealership merely states that it “CANNOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM” … which is ridiculous.

So I’ll look for another mechanic. Meanwhile, a friend rode in the car for the first time and said, “Why is your car doing that? Have you had the distributor cap looked at?” He had once had similar trouble with one of his cars, and replacing the cracked d.c. fixed the problem.

So I’d like to take a look at the distributor cap, to see if it’s visibly damaged. The problem is, I’m no car geek and my owner’s manual has zilch on the distributor cap. (Other parts are labeled, but not that.) So, where is it? Does it, in fact, exist? A web search turned up one page indicating that d.c.'s are no longer used in modern cars. Is this true? Does 1995 qualify as modern, or not?

#2

It’s the part where all the spark plug wires meet, usually circular.

#3

Check out a Haynes mnual for your make/model - they usualy have them in the local library, it has basic fault finding and detailed descriptions. Be careful if you remove tha cap & leads, mark all the leads first & mark the corresponding location where they terminate. If you mix them up it will be hells own job to get them set up again as you are obviously inexperienced at this - you will end up paying someone to rectify it.

Good luck.

#4

Check out a Haynes manual for your make/model - they usualy have them in the local library, it has basic fault finding and detailed descriptions. Be careful if you remove tha cap & leads, mark all the leads first & mark the corresponding location where they terminate. If you mix them up it will be hells own job to get them set up again as you are obviously inexperienced at this - you will end up paying someone to rectify it.

Good luck.

#5

Over the last 15+ years, the trend has been to distributorless ignition systems, which don’t have distributor caps. However, this varies among different models and engines and my manuals show that the 95 Prizm does have a distributor and distributor cap.

You have a four cylinder engine, with four spark plugs and four spark plug wires. These wires are about 1/4" thick and run from the spark plugs – fairly evenly spaced along the top or side (upper) of the engine – to the cap, as Bruce_Daddy mentioned. The cap is plastic, almost always black (though sometimes brown), and held on to the distributor with three screws.

The spark plug wires may be easily removable from the cap by pulling on them (perhaps after removing plastic retaining caps), or they may be fixed into the cap so as not to be readily removable. In the latter case, the cap and wires are serviced as an assembly.

There are many possible causes for your symptom. The distributor cap is indeed a possibility, so are the plug wires. When replacing the cap, it’s traditional – and usually wise – to also replace the distributor rotor, which is inside the cap on top of the distributor shaft.

#6

Thanks, all. I’ll take a look at it tonight.

#7

Also have a look at the timing. This is the first time I saw someone mentioned the cap doing something like this, I suppose it’s possible.

#8

I’m, gonna hijack this thread, as its along the same line. The ‘can’t find the part’ line.
I want to install a tach on my 2000 Ford F 150, and CANNOT find the coil.
Anybody?

#9

Varies depending on the engine. What engine size?

It’s probably distributorless, so the coil(s) are where the plug wires plug in. You’ll need a wiring diagram to identify which wire to tap into. It’s not as straightforward as on older conventional coil designs.

#10

4.2 liter 6 cyl.
…and I found an actual picture of it in a Chilton book, but the items around it , I don’t see either.

#11

If it seems to happen more often during wet weather, old/cracked ignition wires could be the problem too. But they’re not expensive or hard to replace, either.

#12

My manual shows the coil to be at the rear of the right cylinder head. It will, of course, have the six plug wires coming out of it. It will also have a connector with four “regular” wires.

#13

When you replace that cap, make sure you put the wires in the same configuration as they were on the previous cap. This is important. It has to do with how, in what order, your cylinders fire. If you scramble the order–you’re screwed.