Crank Angle Sensor issues (The rally car is in time out)

[IanS]

Ok, so. My car is in time out right now after stranding me last night. She got to ride home on a flat bed.

Heres the skinny.

A few minutes after the engine reaches operating temperature, it will begin to misfire badly. Wideband reads full lean.

If I try to keep it running, the problem will get worse until the engine dies. Once the car is allowed to cool for 30 - 40 minutes, it will restart and idle normally for a short time. As engine bay temps go back up, the problem will re-appear.

Here is what I know. The crank refference signal drops out at operating temp. It fases in and out, causing the tach to bounce. As temps increase, the signal spends more time gone then there until the engine refuses to run.

With the engine idling at operating temp, and begining to show signs of signal degredation, I can bring things back to normal by pouring cold water over the base of the distributer. This narrows it down to a problem with the CAS.

Has anyone ever disassembled a failed distributer and attempted to fix it? Anyone else ever experienced this issue? I just ordered 2 more distributers, but I would like to attempt to fix this one in the mean time. I have a race in less than 3 weeks, so I need the car running and reliable.