my 1997 Jetta has trouble starting in the rain. turns over but wont start. after cranking for a while it will finally start. but then will stall after driving for a minute and then wont start right away again (the stall usually happens at the traffic light by my house which leads to honks and middle fingers by other drivers) Was wondering if anyone could tell me what may be causing this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

coil

 

Sounds like there's moisture in your distributor cap, this has happened to me a few times. Either wait for this to dry out and try again or take the cap off and dry with a hairdryer. After you get it running again, I would spray it with an ignition sealer to block water from getting into it in the future.

It does NOT sound like coil issue since it starts when it's not wet, although to test to make sure you're getting a spark from the coil, take the center wire off the dist. cap and hold up to a grounded area of the car while someone else turns the car over and see if you see the spark. If you do, it's not a coil issue.

 

actually, it may be a coil if it was cracked it would let water in.....

 

I had the exact same problem - the cover on my coil was cracket. Instead of replacing it I cleaned it and covered the crack with silicon. It's been fine for the last 60k miles!

 

well there you go. Cracked housing lets just enough moisture in to **** you off and ruin your day..lol