In a message dated 97-08-26 09:00:37 EDT, jhz@APLEXUS.JHUAPL.EDU writes:

<<  They replaced the distributor cap (which
 had not been replaced in >40,000 miles) and this stopped the problem. They
 said it was a well-known problem and my regular service shops should have
 known to do this every 25,000 miles.

 BTW: On examining the cap, I saw that the cap had a metal shield snuggly
 fitted around it (grounded) that probably caused the early breakdown. Sweems
 like a bad design. >>

That grounded metal shield, to my understanding, was VW's effort at
decreasing radio interferance from the spark gap generator that IS your
distributor. It seems to work on the cars on which I have had with one, but
I've never had any problems with RF buzz in cars that didn't have it.

buzzing off, for now,

gmbulley
fairfax, va