Capacitor — removal, inspection and installation (VW Lt 28)

1. The purpose of the capacitor is to prevent sparking between open contacts, as this would waste voltage and cause premature wear of the contacts.

2. The capacitor is installed in parallel with the contact breaker. When it fails, the ignition system begins to malfunction, since the contact breaker can no longer break the low-voltage circuit at the right time.

3. If the engine is difficult to start or begins to misfire after a few miles, and the breaker contacts appear badly burned, the condition of the capacitor should be checked. To further check, with the ignition on, separate the contacts by hand. If a strong blue spark occurs, then the capacitor is faulty.

4. In the absence of special equipment, the only reliable way to check a capacitor is to test it.

5. To remove the capacitor, you need to remove the distributor cap and rotor.

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6 Disconnect the wire from the capacitor and remove the capacitor from the outer surface of the distributor.

7. The capacitor is installed in reverse order.