Losing the spark

A few days ago, while my Mobile Phone was out of battery and the car charger was in the house, the company van suffered a breakdown. Normally, when it stops in the middle of the road, it can be started again. In the beginning, it was thought to be the insufficient water in the radiator which caused the problem since we could not find any water reservoir in the van's engine compartment. But even after topping up the water almost everyday, the problem still persist. And I experienced that first hand just a few weeks ago. And hating Tan Chong is not going to make things better. I mean, we're the Phone, CCTV and cable guys and this is just a different kettle of fish to us.

Anyway, since the van could not be started, the techs, pulled to the roadside to leave it for the night. So, I asked a friend of mine who told me that if the van could not be started and you smell petrol, there is a very high chance that the vehicle has no "api" (fire). In other words, the main suspects are the spark-plugs, the plug cables and the distributor. Sure enough, after having it towed to the nearest (and friendliest) mechanic located 30 KM away from our office (and the across the road and under the tree car workshop. heh), the problem was discovered to be the distributor.

After that, my tech was happy because the van
now had more Oomph, he dos not have to step
on the gas pedal at the lights and also, more
importantly, saves a bit of petrol. Oh, and the
crack above? Its not the cause of the problem
but some butterfingers who dropped it on the
floor on the way back to the office.