Fitting Bestek Ignition System

[Guest jasonmorris]

Hello and firstly a happy new year to everyone

 

Secondly I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice regarding the fitting of my new Bestek dizzy, coil and amp.

 

I removed the old distributor and carefully marked the position so the new bestek one could be fitted in exactly the same position, which I did. Now here's where I think I have committed a school boy error, should I have turned the crank so that piston number 1 is at top dead centre indicated by a mark inside the dizzy and the rotor arm (hope that makes sense), and if so why would this matter on the old dizzy when I'm fitting a new modified one.

 

I have checked that all the other wiring is correct (i.e. coil to bestek amplifier, amplifier to dizzy) and that the earth is good. I even took the opportunity to fit new HT leads at the same time. Talking about HT leads although I'm certain these are the same as when they came off the old dizzy, does any one know how I can check this?

 

I thought these Bestek systems were plug and play because they are simply a higher powered replacement for my standard electronic set up, so I have obviously committed some school boy error somewhere.

 

When I crank it over the engine doesn't even attempt to fire

 

All suggestions are very welcome as I plan to sort this tomorrow.

 

Best regards,

 

Jason

[knights_templar]

yes you have made the error, hope this is the simplest explanation to sort.

 

find engine timing mark on front pulley and align with timing mark (TDC) on case.

 

that will get No 1 AND No 4 pistons to their highest point, but you need to find out which one is on its compression stroke.

 

think the easiest way would be to remove cam cover and look at the cam, if cam lobs for No1 are facing upward (away from the cam) its on TDC firing, if not turn the engine 360 until the timing marks align again.

 

you can now remove the distributer and fit it back in so that when fully home the rotor points to the afore mentioned mark, that should now be firing No 1.

 

this should get you started (put the cam cover on first, or you will get covered in oil)

 

timing should now be set accurately with timing light

 

have fun let us know how it goes

[Guest jasonmorris]

I have never set timing with a timing light is this an easy task?

 

Jason

[Guest jasonmorris]

Cheers Rob that would be great. I have seen others use them but never actually used one myself, is it easy?

 

Jason

[speedtripledan]

Dead easy to set timing will talk ya through it weds

[Guest jasonmorris]

Excellent, cheers Dan much appreciated.

 

Rob, that would be excellent if I could borrow the timing light on Wednesday.

 

regards,

 

Jason

[Guest jasonmorris]

Can I just ask another daft question?

 

My Bestek box of tricks has been programmed to provide 15 degrees advance at tick over and 34 degrees maximum. Does that mean I should set the dizzy timing using the timing light at 15 degrees btdc while the engine is ticking over?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jason

[Guest jasonmorris]

Right chaps, I've done everything as per knights templar's post above, but still no joy, not even a spark. I know the firing order is 1 3 4 2 but I think I may have got the HT leads connected wrongly. I have taken a couple of pics but can't post them from my phone. Basically in clockwise from top right post on the dizzy cap (nearest the block) my leads are connected 1, 3, 4, 2 with cylinder two being the top left post, is this correct? Any help with getting them the correct way around is greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

[Guest jasonmorris]

Also can I add that I made sure the rotor arm lines up with the timing mark on the dizzy body. This just happens to be just before the lead for cylinder one, is this correct?

 

Jason

[Grim]

get someone to crank the engine whilst you rotate the dizzy a little bit, that should get you close enough to get it running well enough to time it (but don't drive it til it is!)

[Guest mower man]

Where are you in Rotherham ?could get over this week for a look and a tweek if you like I'm only in Worksop .P.M. me if you want a hand [i have a timing light ] mower man

[Guest jasonmorris]

Tried turning dizzy while cranking over and still no joy. So either I've got my leads connected wrongly or a connection wrong.

 

The bestek system has two plugs, one to dizzy and one to coil, and the can only be connected one way. The only other connections to the coil are one for the rev counter. These were fitted to the existing coil which worked perfectly. Now the small racing battery is flat, doh!!!!

 

Mower man thanks for the offer but I am working the rest of this week and my garage has no power as it is a lockup, so would be fumbling in the dark.

 

Any more suggestions?

 

Jason

[Guest jasonmorris]

In the Haynes manual their photo of the Bosch dizzy shows they have number one cylinder furthest away from the block (directly opposite to mine) it on page 15-6.

 

Does this matter so long as the rotor arm is lined up with the timing mark?

 

Jason

[knights_templar]

Also can I add that I made sure the rotor arm lines up with the timing mark on the dizzy body. This just happens to be just before the lead for cylinder one, is this correct?

 

Jason

 

thats right, rotor goes clockwise, so leads go to plugs in firing order, 1-3-4-2,

 

if you are still getting nothing, you better check the dizzy wiring, you mention the wire from coil to dizzy and mention the only other wire is to the tacho, how does it get its feed?

 

standard system is ignition to + on coil, - on coil to dizzy, tachometer wire on -, coil is switched off and on by contacts (switch) in the distributer.

 

electronic ignition just replaces the mechanical switch, (I know the Bestek does other things), but will need its own ignition live.

 

Bestek site gives no detail of wiring, so just a thought, have you a live to the coil still? and one to the dizzy?

[Guest jasonmorris]

The Bestek box has two lots of connector plugs leading from it. One of the plugs has a positive and negative wire plus a ground wire. This plugs into another connetor off the coil with the ground wire connected to bare metal on the car chassis/body. The other connector plug goes straight to the dizzy connector plug. It is impossible to connect these plugs the wrong way round as they are different sizes. I then have another wire connected to the coil negatve for the rev counter and there is another wire to the positive which I presume is the switched ignition live. There are no other wires/connectors on the system and it says in the basic instructions that it is a simple replacement for the existing system. I certainly never disconnected any other wires when removing the old system.

 

Rgds,

 

Jason