Electrical Faint smoke in engine bay after distributor cap and rotor replacement?

[Ryu]

Just replaced the distributor cap and rotor and I’m pretty sure I plugged the spark plug wires back into their respective slots, so should I be worried about the faint smell of electrical burning and I think I saw some smoke but it’s so faint it’s really hard to tell? Or is it just because it’s brand new and it just needs to be broken in?

I took the cap back off and I didn’t see anything obvious being burnt. (I also have a fire extinguisher just in case)

 

[Ryu]

Have it running right now monitoring it seeing if it’s gonna catch fire also I don’t see an increase in smoke but I still kinda smell something electrical burning

 

[Noobz347]

First thought: You got grease/oil/other on a hot surface and will take a little bit to burn off.

Second thought: Check to see if there are any wires/tubes/harnesses leaning on any hot surfaces. Use a flashlight as bright as the sun and check the underside too.

 

[Ryu]

First thought: You got grease/oil/other on a hot surface and will take a little bit to burn off.

Second thought: Check to see if there are any wires/tubes/harnesses leaning on any hot surfaces. Use a flashlight as bright as the sun and check the underside too.

Well I did make a small mess with some coolant so maybe, and I drove it for about 15 min 45 min ago and when I got back home couldn’t smell the burning so that also makes me think your right when you say something burning on a hot surface like the coolant but I checked my spark plug wires and didn’t see anything melting and took a look in the distributor cap and nothing out of the ordinary afaik and the smell seems to be gone soooo ‍♂, maybe i just needed to brake the cap and rotor in??? Oh also like I said before the burning smell was definitely more electrical smelling

 

[Noobz347]

Well, burning coolant can smell a little like ozone. It's got a sweet smell.

I'd probably just drive it a few more times. You could always do a clear water rinse (no pressure washer) of the engine bay and let it sit overnight.

My wife burns water all the time. No smell.

 

[Ryu]

Well, burning coolant can smell a little like ozone. It's got a sweet smell.

I'd probably just drive it a few more times. You could always do a clear water rinse (no pressure washer) of the engine bay and let it sit overnight.

My wife burns water all the time. No smell.

So I did notice a sweet smell at first but that went away pretty quickly (kinda smelled like syrup to me) the other smell was for sure like an electrical burning but like I said before luckily it’s gone now so I’m hoping it just needed to be broken in. I’ll keep an eye on it too though.

 

[General karthief]

"New Part Paranoia"
It's a thing
Really, it is
Seriously, it really is

 

[Ryu]

"New Part Paranoia"
It's a thing
Really, it is
Seriously, it really is

Hahaha I believe it for me only happens with some parts I install others not so much