timing not advancing
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,240
Likes: 1,013
From: Watkinsville, GA and Glen Cove, NY
timing not advancing
So after I got the misfire situation solved took the car out again and got on it a little. Well the previous problem is gone but it will not rev at all and is very sluggish. Came back and put the timing light on it again and initial is perfect but lo and behold timing will not advance at all.
So I popped the cap and rotor off and the weights will move freely by hand. So why won't they move when running. It is a stock 62 distributor with no vacuum advance. Any ideas here?
It seems if I am learning everything about this car in 2 weeks.
So I popped the cap and rotor off and the weights will move freely by hand. So why won't they move when running. It is a stock 62 distributor with no vacuum advance. Any ideas here?
It seems if I am learning everything about this car in 2 weeks.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 347
Likes: 0
From: Somewhere in the Finger Lakes of NY
Maybe they are moving. Could the return springs be so tired that the bob-weights are slapping to full advance at idle speeds ? In that case, you'd never see a change between idle and red-line. Had an old BMW 'boxer twin' motorcycle that drove me nuts for an afternoon, until I discovered something similar.
Probably check this by doing an old fashioned 'static' timing, by turning the motor over by hand and having a test light or ohm-meter on the points.
Probably check this by doing an old fashioned 'static' timing, by turning the motor over by hand and having a test light or ohm-meter on the points.
Last edited by Don Keefhardt; Mar 28, 2006 at 11:00 AM.
when there is little or no lubrication for the shaft.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 38,897
Likes: 1,926
From: Washington Michigan
The autocam that carries the weights and the outboard end of the springs (and the 8-sided cam that operates the points) is a separate part from the distributor mainshaft where the inboard end of the springs attach, and it moves relative to the mainshaft. Most distributors get zero maintenance during their lifetime, and the autocam is probably gummed to the top of the mainshaft and won't move. Cleaning and rebuilding the distributor is a good Saturday project; there's a good article on how to do it on Dave Fiedler's website, www.tispecialty.com.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,808
Likes: 24
From: Westport CT
(not that John needs to know tht I agree with him) Even though it might sound scary to the rebuild "virgins" out there, rebuilding your basic Chevy points distributor ain't so baaaad (I say with a bit of a swagger, having lost my distributor rebuild virginity with the urging of the peanut gallery here a few years ago) - consider it a rite of passage that goes with C2 ownership . . . . .
