• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR6 TR6 Distributor problem...........................

Share this page

Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Ive changed the plugs, put the dist. rotor in the #1 position, lined the marker to both 4 and 8 degrees on the crankshaft perimter pulley, the latter sounding/running the best. Keep in mind the car was running beautiful with a slight problem with the idle previously. My tinkering with distributors, carbs, fuel pumps and other things has gotten me into this hole. And it still wants to run like :pukeface:

Im sure Im jumping over a huge step. The young padawan that I am, I purchased a timing light today on my lunch break to help ease my fervor.

Sincerely,
Humbled for Info
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Here's something else that's probably worth mentioning. If you consider the oil filler cap on the valve cover to be 12 o'clock, when the dizzy is properly oriented, the rotor will be pointing to 7 o'clock (and spark plug wire #1 in the cap) when #1 piston is at TDC and in firing position.
That's the orientation that it came with from the Factory, although rearrangement of the spark plug wires can accomodate variations should somewhere along the way someone didn't properly orient the distributor/oil pump drive gear.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Thats how I have it lined up right now. It is misfiring so much that it shakes the entire body.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

veale001 said:
Im sure Im jumping over a huge step. The young padawan that I am, I purchased a timing light today on my lunch break to help ease my fervor.

Sincerely,
Humbled for Info
Click to expand...

You'll do a whole lot better using a Vacuum Gauge to set your ignition timing.
With a 73, disconnect the vacuum line on your intake manifold's banjo fitting. One line on the fitting goes to the brake servo (booster) the other, the one you disconnect goes to the Anti Run-on valve under the carbon canister.
Put the vacuum gauge tube on that nipple on the banjo fitting and Advance the timing with a clockwise rotation of the dizzy until you get a reading of 17 or 18, whichever you engine likes best.
Don't disconnect anything else, like the vacuum retard module on the dizzy or anything else, just the line that went to the ARV. Hook it back when you are thru.
Try it you and your engine will like it.
One more thing; as you advance the timing the idle speed will increase. Make idle speed adjustments to keep the speed at 850-900.
After you find your timing sweet spot, normally there'll be some adjustment of the carb mixture needed to take advantage of the timing correction.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

veale001 said:
Thats how I have it lined up right now. It is misfiring so much that it shakes the entire body.
Click to expand...
Check your spark plug wires for the firing order.
Going counterclockwise 153624
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

If it is running, but misfiring, then ignition timing is not likely to be the problem. Instead you need to look for why some cylinders are different than others, for example plug wires not in the correct order, or one carb not working, etc.

One thing to check with your new timing light is whether the centrifugal ignition advance is working as it should. Hook the light up and start the engine, then watch the timing mark move under the light as you rev the engine up. The mark should move steadily (up to a point) rather than jumping around.

Personally, I think poolboy's sequence will wind up with the ignition hugely over-advanced (can you say spark knock under load?); but that's the problem with opinions on the Internet, they are worth what they cost (including mine).
:laugh:
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Thats how I started this whole mess. I used a vacuum gauge to find the peak pressure which was 17". Backed it off 1" and then fixed the idle screws. No real noticable change?

My vacuum retard module is not hooked to anything right now? I do not think its ever been connected...
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

OH LORD!

I think my 5 & 3 were reversed! That would cause the violent shaking?

If thats all I apologize. I appreciate the tutorial.

Good news is I have learned a ton about the timing and ignition on my "mistress". Before this car I couldn't tell you an oil from a fuel pump. Its been my favorite hobby, only second to brewing beer
grin.gif


Thanks again guys.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Yup, having wires swapped causes horrible shaking.

No problem with leaving the retard disconnected (other than being illegal of course). The engine will run better, and that way you can use the vacuum gauge timing method if you want. Just be sure to ignore the 4 ATDC timing figure given in the books (and the plate under the hood if it's still there). With the retard disconnected, the idle timing should be around 12 BTDC (usually given as the 'static' figure).
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

TR3driver said:
Personally, I think poolboy's sequence will wind up with the ignition hugely over-advanced (can you say spark knock under load?); but that's the problem with opinions on the Internet, they are worth what they cost (including mine).
:laugh:
Click to expand...

With all due respect, Randall, please tell me why you think 17 or 18 in-Hg is over advanced ?
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

poolboy said:
With all due respect, Randall, please tell me why you think 17 or 18 in-Hg is over advanced ?
Click to expand...
Because you said to leave the vacuum retard connected, which pulls the timing back by 15 degrees or so. As soon as he cracks the throttle, the retard will deactivate and the timing moves way forward. The overall effect is as though the static timing was set around 30 BTDC, which is too much.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!

A simple swap of the dizzy lines brought back the sweet purr! All the help has fine tuned her to run like a top. I feel like I just got it for the first time... again.

I wait for the day I can buy members of this board a beer!

Many, many thanks!
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

I guess I'm due for a blown piston just anyday now then. I still believe you set it the way you run, 17 to 18 whether you use the retard or not..just don't change horses in midstream.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

poolboy said:
I still believe you set it the way you run, 17 to 18 whether you use the retard or not..just don't change horses in midstream.
Click to expand...
But that's my point. When connected as the factory did it, the retard is only active at idle. It goes away (hence the change in horses) as soon as you open the throttle.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Ok this is what I just did.

RETARD Connected Idle speed 800, Vacuum 18,
RETARD disconnected (line plugged) Idle speed 1000, Vacuum 20.

The only thing left to question is what would the reading be if I had lowered the idle speed (with the line plugged) back to 800; higher or lower ?
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Can you put a light on it and see what the timing is? I'd expect a lot more change in vacuum for a 15 degree change in timing (and more than 200 rpm), but since my retard never worked I could be mistaken.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

I'd have to borrow a light, Randall. I thought about that. I really have trouble believing that there's a 15* retard affect. I'm thinking about half of that.
Maybe someone else with a 6 would like to put a light on it.
I think that for the experiment to be meaningful, the idle speed should be kept constant, too. Don't you ?
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

The idle would have to be relative to the setting of the timing due to the centrifugal advance movement. Higher idle, lower vacuum, right?
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

The amount of retard is in the book, effectively the difference between the 'official' dynamic timing of 4 ATDC, and the 'static' timing of either 10 or 12 BTDC (varies by year). Those are in crank degrees, of course, so distributor degrees would be 1/2 that.

Yes, for a valid experiment, the rpm would have to either be constant, or so low that the centrifugal advance doesn't move.
 
Re: TR6 Distributor problem.......................

Brosky said:
The idle would have to be relative to the setting of the timing due to the centrifugal advance movement. Higher idle, lower vacuum, right?
Click to expand...
That's the way I see it. Paul.



I really think that you set the vacuum the way you run, I think that if you set it with a retard, you need to run with a retard. And if you set it w/o retard, run it that way. I've seen nothing in print to say otherwise. I've been running that way for well over a year, sometimes hard and long and my engine has 106k on it. Seems like if something bad was going to happen it would have.
I mean, at between 17 and 18 with the retard in use and the maximumu vacuum that I ever advanced to was in the low 20's (just to see how low it could go) I think I'm on solid ground at 18.
 
Back
Top