So just a few hours ago my car started hesitating and jerking below 3k rpm. I was getting on the freeway and the damn thing was lagging and loud. After parking my acura wrx and letting it sit for a while I checked to see if each cylinder was getting a spark. I noticed that one cylinder was not arcing. My question is this: could it just be that the cable is faulty, or is it possible that the distributor is malfunctioning causing that cylinder to not receive spark. Im gonna go to the local parts place to see if they will let me borrow a set of plug cables just to see. All HELP is appreciated.

 

Switch the cable with another and see if the problem moves with the cable or stays at the same cylinder. Make sure the cable is clipped on well because if the problem is that it's loose, moving it could clip it on better than before and cause the issue to disappear temporarily. Check the internal distributor cap terminals and rotor for corrosion.

 

I swapped the wires around when I woke up and narrowed the problem down to one wire at this point. I have a buddy coming over as I type this to see if using one of his will fix the problem. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the help bud.

 

Swapped my wires with a buddy of mine and it ran better than it did before. Ordered some new NGK wires and plugs and im going to clean up the terminals and rotor with a dremmel brush later on.

 

NGK wires are the best, great choice. Once the terminals under the cap have been cleaned up, you can bend them slightly inward to compensate for the material removed during cleaning. Be careful though. If they are bent too far they will break. It's good to have some dielectric grease when messing with the distributor cap. It works well to seal the insides away from the atmosphere and helps prevent future corrosion. Really, any grease works but the dielectric should be used around electrical components. Just rub a dab on the rubber dizzy cap seal and a thin layer on any bare distributor metal you want to insulate. Dielectric grease blocks electricity so don't use it on unsoldered connections. It also works great as a boot grease at either wire end.

 

The amount of material that will be removed by the dremmel should be very negligible, I will however take your advice into consideration.