86 camry does not turn over after rain

[marble_lion]

After a heavy rain, my 86 Camry will not start. It cranks, but won't turn over. It will start if it's only been a light drizzle for a short time, and it does not cut off or have poor performance during rain, but if it's been a heavy rainfall, or a steady rain, it will not turn over.

first time this happened, I wiped the spark plugs because I read they might be wet, and that worked, but it does not work now. This has been happening for the past 2 months. Any ideas?

[Mike Gerber]

Start troubleshooting this issue by changing out the distributor cap, rotor and spark plug wires. If that doesn't cure it, inspect/replace the coil inside the distributor. They have a tendency to develop hairline cracks in their plastic and can then short themselves to ground on any metal inside the distribtor. If money is really tight, start by removing the coil first and inspecting it visually for cracks. If you see a crack, that is most likely your problem.

Mike

[Lee250]

Yeah if the coil has a crack it won't work when it rains a lot. It happens a lot over here. It will run fine if it starts to rain after it's started because the heat is keeping it dry inside.