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After my 72B died on me, I spent long, ugly days learning electrical... until I got the bright idea to check the timing from beginning to end. Which is when I discovered that at random intervals during cranking, the rotor button will decide it doesn't like the direction its facing by 180 degrees. The valves are correct relative to the pistons: I spent so much time turning the engine by hand and watching the valves that it invades my dreams now... Can a worn distributor act this bad, or do I need to search some other part of the engine for the problem?
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Really wierd...
- Thread starter edothas
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Helo Ed,
are you saying that the rotor is sometimes correct and other times 180 degrees out? 180 degrees is equal to a full engine rotation, and the distributor would have to stop driving for that period.
If that is the case I would remove the distributor and look at the driving dog and the shaft that engages with the camshaft. It sounds, to quote you, very weird.
Alec
are you saying that the rotor is sometimes correct and other times 180 degrees out? 180 degrees is equal to a full engine rotation, and the distributor would have to stop driving for that period.
If that is the case I would remove the distributor and look at the driving dog and the shaft that engages with the camshaft. It sounds, to quote you, very weird.
Alec
Yeah, sometimes 180 degrees out. So if the gears on the shaft are worn, does this mean a new cam shaft as well? And... the shaft is secured to the block with a flathead screw: is there any technique to remove this that doesn't ruin the screw? I've had screwdrivers on it, but they just want to strip the head. Er, that question looks like it needs a noob-alert.
I took my brother's advice and cursed authoritatively in Belgian (which neither of us knows a word of) and now am holding the spindle. (!!) It's got a few *miniscule* nicks on a couple of the teeth, and nice shiny (identical) spots in the middle of each tooth. All this considered, I'm thinking this isn't the prolem... Any thoughts?
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You did pick up what Alec said, "the distributor makes one complete revolution for each two engine revolutions. The distributor rotor will be 180 degrees out for a single engine revolution".
The only way that the distributor could get exactly 180 degrees out by itself would be if the distributor was not fully seated into the drive housing. The bottom of the distributor shaft & the top of the distributor drive spindle are keyed together in a manner that could possibly allow the two parts to slip 180 degrees if the distributor shaft is not fully seated into the spindle top.
Usually the "key" is slightly offset to one side so that there is only one correct way to plug the distributor in.
A slim possibility would be that the rotor button key in its bottom bore is missing, but I would expect the shift in position to be random, rather than 180 degrees. Do you have a shop manual?
D
The only way that the distributor could get exactly 180 degrees out by itself would be if the distributor was not fully seated into the drive housing. The bottom of the distributor shaft & the top of the distributor drive spindle are keyed together in a manner that could possibly allow the two parts to slip 180 degrees if the distributor shaft is not fully seated into the spindle top.
Usually the "key" is slightly offset to one side so that there is only one correct way to plug the distributor in.
A slim possibility would be that the rotor button key in its bottom bore is missing, but I would expect the shift in position to be random, rather than 180 degrees. Do you have a shop manual?
D