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Distributor turned round 180 degrees?



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 11th 07, 11:40 AM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
scream[_2_]
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Posts: 17
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

Hi
When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
for first cylinder.
Thanks

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  #2  
Old April 11th 07, 11:52 AM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
Michael Cecil
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Posts: 174
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

On 11 Apr 2007 03:40:28 -0700, "scream" > wrote:

>Hi
>When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
>facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
>and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
>will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
>for first cylinder.
>Thanks


I did that once. It will work okay, but timing is normally retarded a bit
to keep #3 cylinder cool (at least on a '70), so I fixed it back the right
way the next time I had a chance. I don't know if the timing is retarded
on models that came with a doghouse oil cooler.
--
Michael Cecil
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~safehex/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/hackingvista/
  #3  
Old April 11th 07, 12:03 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
scream[_2_]
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Posts: 17
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

On Apr 11, 10:52 pm, Michael Cecil > wrote:
> On 11 Apr 2007 03:40:28 -0700, "scream" > wrote:
>
> >Hi
> >When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
> >facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
> >and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
> >will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
> >for first cylinder.
> >Thanks

>
> I did that once. It will work okay, but timing is normally retarded a bit
> to keep #3 cylinder cool (at least on a '70), so I fixed it back the right
> way the next time I had a chance. I don't know if the timing is retarded
> on models that came with a doghouse oil cooler.
> --
> Michael Cecilhttp://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/http://home.roadrunner.com/~safehex/http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/hackingvista/


Thanks for your reply. Is it hard to change back?

  #4  
Old April 11th 07, 12:54 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
Michael Cecil
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Posts: 174
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

On 11 Apr 2007 04:03:04 -0700, "scream" > wrote:

>On Apr 11, 10:52 pm, Michael Cecil > wrote:
>> On 11 Apr 2007 03:40:28 -0700, "scream" > wrote:
>>
>> >Hi
>> >When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
>> >facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
>> >and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
>> >will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
>> >for first cylinder.
>> >Thanks

>>
>> I did that once. It will work okay, but timing is normally retarded a bit
>> to keep #3 cylinder cool (at least on a '70), so I fixed it back the right
>> way the next time I had a chance. I don't know if the timing is retarded
>> on models that came with a doghouse oil cooler.
>> --
>> Michael Cecilhttp://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/http://home.roadrunner.com/~safehex/http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/hackingvista/

>
>Thanks for your reply. Is it hard to change back?


Well, you have to pull out the drive gear and that can be tricky,
especially since you don't want to drop the washer down into the engine
case. If it's okay otherwise, you might want to just leave it as is.

Hmmm...that's a T1 not a T3, right?

--
Michael Cecil
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~safehex/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/hackingvista/
  #5  
Old April 11th 07, 01:27 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
Jan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 324
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

scream wrote:
> Hi
> When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
> facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
> and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
> will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
> for first cylinder.
> Thanks
>



It has been discussed here not long ago, and one important thing often
overlooked is that the distributor needs OIL too, and the oiling hole on
the distributor body only lines up with the respective oil hole in the
case when it is installed right. If it's 180 degrees off, it gets no or
very little lubrication. I don't know how severe this problem is though.

Jan
  #6  
Old April 11th 07, 02:30 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
Speedy Jim
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Posts: 571
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

scream wrote:

> Hi
> When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
> facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book. It seems to run ok
> and I set the timing with the strobe light fine. Is that normal and
> will it do damage? Instead of being at 4 o'clock it's at 10 o'clock
> for first cylinder.
> Thanks
>


Except for the possible oiling problem, the orientation
doesn't matter on '71. #3 is not retarded on later engines
with doghouse cooler.

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

  #7  
Old April 12th 07, 02:22 AM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
AshMan
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Posts: 57
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

On Apr 11, 7:40 pm, "scream" > wrote:
> Hi
> When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
> facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book.


Are you sure there really is a problem? Sorry if it sounds like I'm
doubting you, but most of us have mistakenly wired the spark plugs for
our cars. It is a common mistake. The wire located at the the 4
o'clock distributor position (right rear most distributor wire) should
be connected to the right front cylinder (front, as in front of car).
This is cylinder #1. The wire at the 10 o'clock position (left front
most distributor wire) should be connected to the left front
cylinder. This is cylinder #3. If you were to get these confused for
each other you might try to set your timing using #3 cylinder. On
later cars you could do this w/o a problem.

There are two times during the four-stroke cycle that the #1 cylinder
will be at TDC: Top (end) of the compression stroke and top of exhaust
stroke. At the top of the exhaust stroke for #1 the rotor will be
pointing at cylinder #3's post since cylinder #3 will be at the top
of it's compression stroke. This is because the cam shaft and
distributor rotate at 1/2 the speed of the crankshaft (two rotations
of the crank for each rotation of the cam/dizzy).

The only way to know that you are at the top of the compression stroke
for cylinder #1 is to follow Speedy Jim's instructions (sorry Speedy
Jim, I'm referencing your site here... but it is such a good site :-)

http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/eng_strt.htm
See the section at the bottom of the page marked "The Test:"

If your distributor is indeed installed 180-deg out, you should make
the effort to remove the distributor drive gear and rotate it to it's
correct orientation.



AshMan40

  #8  
Old April 14th 07, 09:06 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
scream[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 17
Default Distributor turned round 180 degrees?

On Apr 12, 1:22 pm, "AshMan" > wrote:
> On Apr 11, 7:40 pm, "scream" > wrote:
>
> > Hi
> > When I was tuning up my 71 vw I noticed that my TDC put the rotor
> > facing 180 degrees opposite what it is in the book.

>
> Are you sure there really is a problem? Sorry if it sounds like I'm
> doubting you, but most of us have mistakenly wired the spark plugs for
> our cars. It is a common mistake. The wire located at the the 4
> o'clock distributor position (right rear most distributor wire) should
> be connected to the right front cylinder (front, as in front of car).
> This is cylinder #1. The wire at the 10 o'clock position (left front
> most distributor wire) should be connected to the left front
> cylinder. This is cylinder #3. If you were to get these confused for
> each other you might try to set your timing using #3 cylinder. On
> later cars you could do this w/o a problem.
>
> There are two times during the four-stroke cycle that the #1 cylinder
> will be at TDC: Top (end) of the compression stroke and top of exhaust
> stroke. At the top of the exhaust stroke for #1 the rotor will be
> pointing at cylinder #3's post since cylinder #3 will be at the top
> of it's compression stroke. This is because the cam shaft and
> distributor rotate at 1/2 the speed of the crankshaft (two rotations
> of the crank for each rotation of the cam/dizzy).
>
> The only way to know that you are at the top of the compression stroke
> for cylinder #1 is to follow Speedy Jim's instructions (sorry Speedy
> Jim, I'm referencing your site here... but it is such a good site :-)
>
> http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/eng_strt.htm
> See the section at the bottom of the page marked "The Test:"
>
> If your distributor is indeed installed 180-deg out, you should make
> the effort to remove the distributor drive gear and rotate it to it's
> correct orientation.
>
> AshMan40


Thanks, Haven't had a chance to get into it this weekend, but I am
pretty sure its on backwards. I have just changed the generator for an
alternator and need to make a spacer for the carb before I go too much
further (literally) then I'll flick over the distributor and re time.
Thanks for your replies

 




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