Distributor Cap Age Stamp?

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  • davesmystery
    Advanced Member
    • Jun 2013
    • 106

    #1

    Distributor Cap Age Stamp?

    So I took out my distributor cap last night to check for signs of arcing, corrosion, etc. and I noticed what appeared to be a date stamp on the inside, for reference here's a picture of a dist. cap (not mine):



    I'm referring to the inside of the cap, lower right area there's a raised circular imprint.

    On my distributor cap, the circle of tick marks that seems to indicate the month and in the center it's stamped 92. Is this the month and year that the cap was produced? It definitely had some signs of arcing behind each of the leads, but was nowhere near as bad as some of the others I've seen. It doesn't seem like a 20 year old part, but the potential date stamp has me thinking otherwise. I'm obviously going to replace it, but just curious if this is actually the original part. Also, is it common for most parts to have a date stamp? I never really paid attention before. Thanks for the help!
    1992 325ic, Alpine over Indigo.
  • mgromero
    Advanced Member
    • Aug 2011
    • 106

    #2
    Yes most important parts have a date stamp.
    I have a 09/1986 E30 325 and 80% of the parts I'veen replacing the past year had the 09/86 or 08/86 date stamp on them. If the date is not stamped in the part they have a sticker or something like that.

    Pretty impressive, even my mechanic couldnt believe it.

    Comment

    • Herr Faust Schinken
      No R3VLimiter
      • Feb 2012
      • 3580

      #3
      Yeah most parts I've found on my car have a date stamp,In them, everything from bumper trim to the cluster to parts of te suspenstion are all dated
      88 325is Five Speed
      Lachssilber

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      • TobyB
        R3V Elite
        • Oct 2011
        • 5163

        #4
        yeah the cap and rotor on mine said 8-90... AFTER a season of racing...


        t
        now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

        Comment

        • davesmystery
          Advanced Member
          • Jun 2013
          • 106

          #5
          So I swapped in new ignition stuff, the plug wires were from 1991 and oddly enough the rotor was from 1996. Apparently one of the POs use randomly replaced crap without knowing anything about cars.

          Mgromero, I'm replacing a lot of stuff because a lot of those 100k replacement/change items were never touched. It's amazing my car still runs well despite the original factory equipment.

          Toby, how bad was your cap? I was surprised mine wasn't totally corroded and black, especially for the mileage.
          1992 325ic, Alpine over Indigo.

          Comment

          • TobyB
            R3V Elite
            • Oct 2011
            • 5163

            #6
            Amazingly good- I only did it preventatively, and was astounded it was OEM

            t
            now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

            Comment

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