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Compensate for Dizzy Gear Cut..After a Drive!


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So after all the really great advice I received in my long Timing Belt job (which seems to have gone OK) and water pump (which fought me, but it looks like I have the upper hand now :) ) thread, I'm doing some tuning on my RUNNING car. I thought I'd check to see if I'm on the right track here with a little timing issue.

I had to take my dizzy out when I did my timing belts due to a SNAFU.  I needed a new rotor to dizzy shaft holder screw, so I had no idea of where it pointed prior to taking it out. Anyway, I drove the car today, and frankly, it actually runs pretty nice, all things considered. It better with the amount of new parts on it. 

I went to check the timing after driving it a few miles and "warming it up".  Warming up now is different than it was before with a new rad! Both hoses were hot, but I didn't hear the fan came on.  However, I did see the needle drop at a certain point here and there, which I assume is from the fan coming on. 

So center of temp gauge, I then connected the green connectors, hooked up my timing light, and I had around 0 or TDC. I kind of expected that, because I installed it according to the FSM. Anyway, I'm out of slot length at 12 BTDC degrees or so. It does run better at 12; at 0 it was pretty flat on acceleration, which I understand. However, I know it needs to be at 20 BTDC. In addition, maybe the computer is "relearning" what it needs to also.

So...I assume I need to restab the distributor. I know it rotates CCW, so do I turn it CW when I install it to gain lost range? I lined the rotor up the best I could before, but that was my first time doing this, so I was flying blind with it. My question is which way do you guys think I should turn the gear to compensate so I can get the full range of timing adjustment?

Thanks for any insight!

Edited by subaru1988
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Sounds like you are off 1 or maybe 2 tooth.   Going by your description, It's firing way late, so you have to turn the rotor ahead of where it is.  Ahead - in the direction it turns when running.  That will effectively get the body back to it's normal rotation at 20 degrees.

 

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Yea, I tried to get the rotor to line up with the mark I made when I had the distributor out. I lined up the gear mark as in the FSM, but I kept having to move the rotor around to try for the best spot I could get to install the distributor. I evidently went the wrong way or too far.

It actually runs pretty nice at 12 BTDC. However, I know it will run even better if I put that extra 8 degrees in it. So if I turn the engine to 0 when I take the dizzy out (with the cam timing marks like in the FSM), when I put it back in, I need to move the rotor CCW to a point BEFORE where it's currently at 0, which is more or less pointed at #1 on the cap?

Thanks!

Edited by subaru1988
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Getting it in at the right tooth in one hit is one of those have to do it a number of times things.   I had one off a tooth, what I did was this - keep a note of the rotation of the housing, and where the rotor is pointing.  During this, don't change the rotation of the housing  or if you do to get it to move, turn it back when you check the new position.  Slowly lift the disty, watch and feel when the gear disengages - then move it ahead a tooth, lower it back in.    Notice how the rotor turns some as the gear disengages.   Turn & feel the rotor by hand, it doesn't take much effort.  When you slide it back down, it turns back.  It should be pointing slightly ahead of where it was if you moved it ahead a tooth.  If it's back where it was, then you didn't advance it. 

Re check the timing - if it is correct, the marks from the original position will be under the bolts at 20BTDC. 

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12 hours ago, DaveT said:

Getting it in at the right tooth in one hit is one of those have to do it a number of times things.   I had one off a tooth, what I did was this - keep a note of the rotation of the housing, and where the rotor is pointing.  During this, don't change the rotation of the housing  or if you do to get it to move, turn it back when you check the new position.  Slowly lift the disty, watch and feel when the gear disengages - then move it ahead a tooth, lower it back in.    Notice how the rotor turns some as the gear disengages.   Turn & feel the rotor by hand, it doesn't take much effort.  When you slide it back down, it turns back.  It should be pointing slightly ahead of where it was if you moved it ahead a tooth.  If it's back where it was, then you didn't advance it. 

Re check the timing - if it is correct, the marks from the original position will be under the bolts at 20BTDC. 

Sounds like a plan..I'm going to make some reference marks, because the car does run decently where it's at. At least that's an OK starting point. I thought a little about this, and I'm thinking if I put the flywheel mark at 12, my rotor should be at or near #1 on the cap. This is easy to verify. So maybe I can move the rotor as you suggested while trying to get the rotor to point at #1 at 20 BTDC. I guess I'll know if I gain some slot length.

I'm hoping I can get away with doing this without disconnecting the connector. I don't remember how much working room there is with it together, but I do recall the connector being a real PITA to get apart. As a matter of fact, it took longer for me to disconnect that than to take out the dizzy!

Thanks!

Edited by subaru1988
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