'92 240 Wagon has rough acceleration in damp weather

[craigsan42]

I have a '92 240 Wagon. Whenever the weather is damp (post rain, fog, etc.) and the car is cold, I start it up and the acceleration is pretty rough (sputtery). After the car warms up (and I presume dries out) all is fine. I was told that the spark plugs are gapped wide. Wondering where I should start to address this problem. Thanks for your ideas.

[ed7]

Yes, you probably need to dry the condensate inside the distributer.
Ed

[billofdurham]

+1 on ed7's post. The distributor caps on the 240 aren't the tightest of fits and moisture can get in there.

I always found the best way to dry the cap and leads was to heat the oven to about 150F, turn off the heat and stick the cap and leads inside for about 30 minutes. It really dries them out. Next step would be to spray the outside of the cap and the leads with Holts Damp Start or similar. This helps to stop short circuits and corrosion by forming a plastic insulating seal which does keep out water. It is best applied with the cap and leads dry and off the car. Make sure you know which lead goes where.

Next re-gap or replace the plugs. The plug gap is critical at any time but more so when cold and damp hit the engine.

Bill.