Distributor

[Guest DROID]

Hi,

 

I was told at the weekend my distributor was faulty, not advancing enough. I changed it with one from the local scarp yard. But once fitted and I think this one doesn't have any advance? Is there anyway of checking this and I trust you can't fit them incorrectly? Piston one tdc and rotar arm pointing towards marking on distributor casing. I orignally fitted in the same position as the one removed but engine wouldn't start.

 

Andy............

[Guest chris brown]

Hi,

 

I was told at the weekend my distributor was faulty, not advancing enough. I changed it with one from the local scarp yard. But once fitted and I think this one doesn't have any advance? Is there anyway of checking this and I trust you can't fit them incorrectly? Piston one tdc and rotar arm pointing towards marking on distributor casing. I orignally fitted in the same position as the one removed but engine wouldn't start.

 

Andy............

How was it checked to find it didn’t have enough advance?

You need a strobe that can you can dial in the advance then after setting the tick over advance to 8 degrees then bring up the revs gradually to just over 3000 watching the advance on the timing marks they should advance smoothly to around 34 degrees IIRC. Good info on dizzy here

[Guest timswait]

I think this one doesn't have any advance?

The one from the EFi engine doesn't change advance with timing or vacuum, the ECU controls the advance and the dizzy just outputs a signal. However it will be obvious if you have been sold one of these as the look different, they don't have a vacuum module on them and the plug is different, you physically wouldn't have been able to have plugged it in if it was one of these. If it looks the same as your old one, and has the same plug, then it will have some kind of adavnce mechanism. Try putting your old one back on and checking the timing as Chris says. Even if you only have a basic strobe you should at least see the marks moving as you rev the engine and get some idea of whether it's working.

[Guest timswait]

Reading back to your other thread you say you've disconnected the vacuum pipe. This could be the problem, the vacuum controls the advance, so without it you're just using the mechanical advance mechanism which won't advance it far enough.

[Guest DROID]

Hi,

 

I took the car down to the local tuning garage who have a rolling road. After he checked different things he ask what I set the timing at, approx 8 degress, now at 13 degress he advised. He gradually revved the engine and advised the advance was not enough and was concerned as the timing was not as I had set it.

 

The second-hand unit is faulty, vacum advance mechanism seized.

 

I will post on the want section for a distributor.

 

Andy.

 

Also need to find a servo unit.

[Longboarder]

I have a spare good servo. Can post next week but see my comments on your other thread as the story is not convincing for a servo diaphragm failure big enough for causing lean running on 4.

Look at your spare dizzy (or the good one). Take the cap off, hold the gear wheel still and try to turn the rotor arm. If it has a mechanical advance there will be sprung rotation between the two ends. You should also see a small oval hole in the side of the dizzy body with a little cap in it which can be levered out and you can peep inside and see the advance bob weights, posts and springs. Worth dismantling the dizzy and cleaning and lubricating the bits as it may be dirty/corroded and not allowing full movement of the mechanism. And while you do that you may as well modify it.

And don't fret that it was measured at 13 deg advance and you thought you set it at 8. The rolling road may be able to measure and set to an accuracy of one degree but I doubt if you or I can.

 

Nigel

[Guest DROID]

I have a spare good servo. Can post next week but see my comments on your other thread as the story is not convincing for a servo diaphragm failure big enough for causing lean running on 4.

Look at your spare dizzy (or the good one). Take the cap off, hold the gear wheel still and try to turn the rotor arm. If it has a mechanical advance there will be sprung rotation between the two ends. You should also see a small oval hole in the side of the dizzy body with a little cap in it which can be levered out and you can peep inside and see the advance bob weights, posts and springs. Worth dismantling the dizzy and cleaning and lubricating the bits as it may be dirty/corroded and not allowing full movement of the mechanism. And while you do that you may as well modify it.

And don't fret that it was measured at 13 deg advance and you thought you set it at 8. The rolling road may be able to measure and set to an accuracy of one degree but I doubt if you or I can.

 

Nigel

 

 

Nigel,

 

That would be great, just let me know the postage charge and what you want for the servo. What do you mean by modifying the distributor?

 

Thanks.........Andy

[Guest DROID]

Nigel,

 

Sorry, when the engine is running on idle is sounds a little rough but when you spray carb cleaner around the sevro (where the main shaft comes through) the engine picks up and runs smooth plus on the garage's machine the readings all came into alignment. The reason he said no.4 cylinder was poor on idle is the feed comes from that area of the inlet manifold.

 

I tried it ewhen I got home and idle certainly improves for a few seconds.

 

Andy.

[Longboarder]

OK. Send me an address for the servo.

Sorting the dizzy. Below are two pics which show a similar autoadvance mechanism to the pinto dizzy. In the first pic the important principle to get is the top shaft and drive shaft are not one bit, they're separate and the top shaft can be rotated a few degrees relevant to the drive shaft by a cam action operated by centrifugal force on the bob weights in the automatic advance mechanism between them. The faster the drive shaft spins the more the bob weights move out and advance the top shaft relevant to the drive shaft. At rest, springs pull the bob weights back inwards and hold the top shaft retarded.

 

The NW Hoodies site has more info in this article. I would suggest you strip, clean and lubricate all the bits of your dizzy first so it gives all the advance the designer intended. Then see what the rolling road man says. You can revisit it after and play with the springs and stops if need be.

 

Nigel

[baj25]

Andy,

Have PM’d you but your mailbox is full!

Couple of points. IIRC, the normal way to set timing (at least the way I have always done it) is to set it to the desired setting at specific revs e.g. 900, with vacuum pipe disconnected and plugged. If this is what you’ve done and Mr Rolling road checked it with vacuum connected, I would expect it to be different to what you set. But you say that the vacuum advance is knackered, so dependent on what is wrong with it I’m not sure what you’d get. I have heard people say that vacuum advance is not necessary anyway. (if this is the case I’d have thought that manufacturers wouldn’t fit it) It would be interesting to know what advance Mr Rolling road was expecting to get, and what you had, before attacking the centrifugal advance. You seem to have a pretty healthy bhp for a 1.6, so it can’t be all bad! Cheers, Brian