Ok. I have search a bit with really no luck. Probably just not looking in the right places. i have 1995 4runner 3.0 manual trans, motor has 203k on it with a new head gasket within 40k miles ago. Distributor cap contacts are wearing unevenly. I think 2 and 5 are normal but the rest are gone, nothing left down to the plastic. Rotor button has a little wear but is more bent then worn. The shaft doesn't seem like it has any play in it, grabbing it with the cap off and trying to move it back and forth. I feel like this could be some of my running issues and possibly causing some valve noise. This is the third cap I have put in it and all end up the same. It does run good for a minute or two when I change out the cap. I wanted to see what I can find out before I go put 190.00 in a new distributor. Any thoughts?

 

Third cap in how long? The caps aren't supposed to last forever. Have you replaced the rotor as well?

I just replaced mine, lasted about 4 years ~ 20k miles. The contact points were wearing but the cap was leaking (would shock me) so I replaced it.

 

This cap lasted about 2 1/2 months before I think it was 1,3,4 contacts were gone completely. Anybody had a problem like that. It's hard to figure out the cause of my power loss and poor fuel until I figure out why this is happening and rule it out

 

Sounds like your coil is running way too hot and burning away the cap. Either that or there's some sort of issue with your rotor making too much contact with the cap. Did you ever replace the rotor? Do you have any sort of upgraded/aftermarket ignition components?

 

i replaced distributor same thing happened wore off 4 electrodes any idea what causes this

 

check for a bad distributor bearing. With the cap off, push the rotor sideways in all directions. You shouldn't feel any movement.

 

did same thing with a new distributor

 

Yeah, of course, a "new" distributor would never have a bad bearing.

 

That's how the caps are made. Two contacts are different from the other four. Have you not looked at the contacts on a new cap before installing it?