ihatemybike

Cause it only happens with old caps and rotors. Guess it's a good indicator to maintain those parts.

2000Impalaspeeder

I have the same problem on my 99 Astro it wont start wont crank when it
rains.. IDk what it could be, I did clean out the Cap
one time it had alot of corrosion on the terminals and put it back,
but the Astro wont start at all

DCSCO

Just went through this. Missing or nostart when damp. 2000 Astro. Changed rotor and cap, mde it worse, AC Delco. Since it was getting dark, waited for full dark, started with good idle. Didn't have to put in drive and gas with foot on the break, just a light rev with the accelerator showed a fat spark from the coil HV wire to the iron frame. Added die-electric grease to all my connections after that. Dirt with a little moisture creates a path for ignition spark. Hope this method works for you. Look at your wires with motor under load in the dark. Blue light is the give away.

bcham4313

I cant beileve all the people having a problem with this.I could write a book! my boyfriend is a mechanic of 40 yrs. this has him stumped!! We have done all that everybody has mentioned.he thinks the ignition coil is sparking witch in turn hits the transmission dip stick, we have been with this problem for years!! you think you have it fixed and that isnt the case!!my concern is the saftety issue ive been on four lane highway 3 times in a snow storm and my van shut off had to coast to side of road!!very dangerous!! i think the vehicle should have been recalled for safety reasons!i love my van but still working on the problem. i will let you know if we figure it out.

wile e coyote

Yes, my van (200,000 on the odo), a 2000, just recently started having trouble in damp weather. As everyone has stated, the obviously cause is moisture buildup at either the distributor cap OR the ignition coil. Cracking or peeling plug wires could also be a culprit but only with water being splashed on them (driving) not just from moist air (parked).

Now this is by NO MEANS a permanent solution - do not take it as such - but in an emergency situation WD-40 will completely remove all moisture from your cap, coil, plugs, ANY part of your ignition. I know..... nobody actually uses it for this anymore, but believe it or not this was the original purpose for WD-40

el2u

For anyone having a damp weather starting problem, or a no start problem when fuel and spark are present. Check the electrical side of the ignition system. My problem was the rotor , it was allowing the spark to pass through the plastic and grounding on the distributor pole, if this is happening you will be able to hear a spark discharge from under the cap when you crank it over and will see a soot mark on the underside of the rotor when you take it apart. it took me two weeks to trouble shoot this problem . By the way....... this will also cause your check engine light to be on and show as a random misfire. I could have just replaced the rotor as my son suggested, but this part was less than a year old. I use some die electric resin to coat the under side of the rotor. now... better than new

SEEBA

ignition coil was a very common issue on 96-2002 astros. in a wet weather there was always a problem starting the wehicle or it was running like on 5 cylinders. the longer you do nothing about that the worst it gets over time. At one point engine will shut down during a ride till the coil dries. before you do tune ups over and over again just remove the dog house and mist some water on the engine - simplest way to check for any electrical problems. you will see the sparks comming out of the ignition coil and if you had that problem for a longer time you will also see the sparks going out of ignition cable. just replace the coil and one cable.the one going from iginition to a distributor. go with cheaper parts, after all they are all made in china so there is not a big difference beetween them.

Goldwing_guy

Listen up everyone I have the fix for this problem. Cost of repair $0-$40. I am not a mechanic; I repair electronics for a living. I have done the repair below several months ago and have not had any problems since. If you have the wire lying around you have nothing to lose but an hour worth of work.
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I have dealt with this problem for years but I have solved the problem. The parts that I have changed over the years with no results consist of the plugs, plug wires, distributors, ignition coil, ignition module, endless caps and rotors.
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The problem is the two primary ignition wires that go into the coil. With the engine cover removed and the engine running I was able to wiggle these leads around and make my engine stumble and was able to kill the engine. These wires need to be replaced! Your air conditioner hose sits on top of these wires and over time the bouncing movement causes internal breakage of these wires. I checked these wires with a continuity meter and they checked good this is a false reading remember this is an intermittent problem. REPLACE THESE WIRES!
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THE FIX.
I had wire lying around. NAPA auto parts sells the replacement wire connector/harness for around $40.00. I chose to repair my old one.
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Remove the primary connector from your ignition coil. Note one lead goes to the Ignition module and the other lead goes into the wiring harness. Also note which wire goes where. Cut the lead that goes to the ignition module, BE SURE TO LEAVE 2 INCHES OF WIRE FROM THE IGNITION MODULE CONNECTOR TO WORK WITH. Now follow the other lead into the wiring harness and open up your wiring harness 5-6 inches to expose the wires inside and cut the 2nd coil lead BE SURE TO LEAVE 2 INCHES OF WIRE to work with. Now that you have removed the primary coil connector I was able to take a jewelers screw driver and release the terminal locks the coil connector and remove the wires from the connector. I opened up the terminals to remove the old wires. Using wire that is HIGH HEAT resistant, slip onto the wire one of the rubber seals and solder about 12 inches of wire to the terminal, bend the terminal lock out and slide the terminal back into the connector make sure it locks into place. Push the wire seal into connector and repeat process for other wire.
Strip the ends of the wires and solder back into the vehicles wiring harness and ignition module. Dip the soldered wires into silicone and fill a crimp on cap connector with silicone and crimp on the connector to cover your splices. Make sure all splices are water tight. I also put silicone on the wires going into the coil connector. Dress all your wires. Now start enjoying and relying in your car again.
Let me know how you make out with this repair people!

ihatemybike

Goldwing_guy, 15 years with these vans and their forums and I've never heard of anyone doing this. Sounds like an interesting fix. Please, post pics.

DCSCO

I've had that happen on an old Norton once. Will keep that in the arsenal. Since die-elactric grease on the wire set, no problems yet!