How I feel when I explain what a distributor is.
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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I had to explain what points were to a young guy that we hired on here as a farmhand. Had him tuning up a spare grain truck we have, a '68 Ford.
I'm not super familiar myself because I started fixing things in the early days of EFI, but I get by enough to accomplish something. But if you ask me to tune a carb, that's pure necromancy as far as I'm concerned.
Spinny spinny spark spark!
This looks like something out of a Point and click adventure game, a hint for some puzzle.
I just feel so old. My car doesn't have a distributor. Or an engine.
What is the goal of this note? To say 3 and 1 are switched?
Much more than that. Look at the right angles, those are deliberately drawn in.
4 of the 6 spark plug cables use right angle connectors, while 2 of them connect straight in.
We got a new set of cables coming in, because cable/cylinder #6 took a shit.
Gotta purchase a whole set though right? So, given that every cable is a bit different, I figured I'd more or less formally document them before the new ones come in..
I remember when you could buy a spark plug wiring kit that would let you make your own wires. It would have the high tension wire, the metal connector clips and various rubber boots. Some Assembly Required after purchase.
You could simply make and replace a wire in your situation. Very handy when working on a 30 year old tractor.
I asked him if he still has his old plug wires from his old '95 Buick Park Avenue for that very reason.
Hell, they're both products of GMC, and I've rebuilt plug wires before, so it's not like rocket surgery to me.
But sadly, we couldn't locate those old cables, and even if we did, it's the difference between an entirely electronic ignition vs a mechanical distributor, so even if I found those old spare parts, the rubber boots and connectors probably wouldn't match up..
And C exists
You'll be shocked when you find out what it's for.
Is it for engaging light speed?
Well it could be for coil, but I've already been burned once for trusting 3 and 1.
How are your valve stem seals? Does it blow smoke on startup?
Thankfully it doesn't smoke, and it tends to run pretty damn good. Which ain't half bad for having over 200k miles on it.
But the other day it started having a miss, and when I went to inspect, I saw the rubber boot for plug wire #6 is literally split down the side. So, we got a new set of wires on order from eBay...
Something something needs new spark plug wires...
You know you ain't right for that LOL!
What does the diagram actually say? Manual transmission or am I missing something? ELI5
It's the distributor firing order for the engine, so if you take your spark plug wires off you know how they go back on
Interesting thanks
Yeah, really expensive mistake if you put the wires in the wrong place.
I was replacing them on a vehicle recently and I felt fine about it. Neighbor came over and told me he swapped them wrong years back, said the engine rattled so hard the engine blew, took the plates off and walked home.
I checked the order about 3-4 times after that because suddenly I had so much "but wait... Did I?
Hmm i have questions about that drawing, IIRC the firing order of that engine is 1-6-5-4-3-2 and the order on the drawing is 1-3-2-4-6-5. Are you sure this is right? But other than that, I like your laminated documentation.
I've looked it over quite a few times, distributor in hand even.
I find the ultimate firing pattern is 1-2-3-4-5-6
The crossover wiring in the distributor cap can be confusing though, but it arranges the order in a staggering pattern back and forth from one side of the V engine to the other.
Oh didn’t realise it was one of those caps, well carry on then.