The rotor is even worse. You can actually see pitting on our old rotor where it contacted the terminals on the cap.We initially tried a distributor rotor from a first-generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. It looked similar to the photos we saw online so we decided to give it a try. First, you can see how much shorter it is so it won’t actually contact the terminals. Second, the shaft in an Eclipse distributor is a hair smaller in diameter so the Eclipse rotor is too tight. It was worth a shot and fellow Cappuccino owners can now know an Eclipse distributor rotor does not work in a Cappuccino.Here is the trigger wheel assembly for the distributor. We marked the orientation of the shaft and the housing before further disassembly. The lower portion of the body has to be removed to replace the internal o-ring and we didn’t want to alter the base ignition timing.With the body off, we can replace the o-ring. The distributor is driven by the intake cam and this o-ring keeps oil inside the engine and out of the distributor electronics.With the distributor open, we also checked the gap between the hall sensor and the trigger wheel. Suzuki recommends a gap of 0.2 – 0.4mm. Ours was set right in the middle at 0.3mm. If this gap is too large the wheel may not trigger and the car will not run. Too small and you can destroy the sensor and trigger wheel.
Duralast? Yuck. I wouldn’t count on any longevity out of that coil. Parts store brand stuff is awful quality in my experience unless something has recently changed. Looks like NGK and Delphi still supply coils for a 98 Metro for under $50. I’d go with one of those.
6 comments
This car is so cool. Thanks for the update.
Thank you! I’ve been enjoying learning all about this platform and I’m glad folks enjoy what I’ve put together.
What’s the part number for those NGK wires? I haven’t been able to find them anywhere. thx!!
RC-SE43. I actually found them on eBay if you can believe it. Search for EA11R plug wires
Awesome. 3 cyl motors sound a lot like straight 6’s the same way the inline 5s of RS3 and TTRS sound like their 10 cyl big brothers.
Duralast? Yuck. I wouldn’t count on any longevity out of that coil. Parts store brand stuff is awful quality in my experience unless something has recently changed. Looks like NGK and Delphi still supply coils for a 98 Metro for under $50. I’d go with one of those.