>>
>>
>>any chance you are getting a non-vw rotor and cap?? if so, the after-market
>>tolerances might be a bit off, causing too much of a gap between the parts.
>>also see if the little metal contacts inside the cap and on the rotor are
>>pitted in any way. if not, you may have some sort of weird atmospheric
>>(i.e., pollution) problem. <well, i don't know!! it could happen!>
>>
>>are you in a really dry climate? that might account for the deposits being
>>"white". (since the deposits are blackish down here in the humid south)
>>
>>goodluck.
>>joel
>>

My 84 vanagon at 105k miles is still using the original coil/rotor/cap and all
iginition wires. I did have a new rotor since the original one had a tiny
crack on where the resister is buried in. I found that new one made no 
difference so i put the original one back to use. Honestly I never needed to 
clean the contacts or anything elese inside the cap. The stuff seems so 
reliable. I replaced spark plugs at least once a year...