dxacer01

Ok so I pulled off the distributor cap and it was good, no build up on the terminals, but my rotor did in fact have some black on it, and if I am looking at haynes correctly was in the wrong place? Where is the rotor soppos to come to a rest? or does it matter? The part that sticks out and touches the terminals was facing straight back. Should it be near the number 1 spark plug spot on the cap or no? I will include some pics in a little bit, I have to resize them a little first

Ice Fisherman

Where the rotor comes to rest depends on where the engine stops. It will only point to #1 if the engine happens to come to rest at the top of the #1 compression stroke.

dxacer01

Go here to see the photos

Dale

iTrader: (12)

From the pictures it looks like the cap and rotor is just at the start of the "replacement" stage. Could go another oil change I would say.

The metal prongs sticking up, make sure they are all exactly upright, and that the prongs that stick down on the center shaft dont hit them. Take some sandpaper and just knock some of that surface rust off of both parts.

dxacer01

well the car didn't do its normal surging while i drove tonight, well it did a little but it was barley noticeable, I am hoping that bypassing the vapor canister helped this, but i will wait a few more days before confirming it. Well its not completely bypassed as the i put a hose that runs from the top plug to the one right below it and left the gas tank line hooked up along with the vaccum line that runs to that.

Yeah I would just buy a whole new distributor, but I couldn't install that thing to save my life :-p Guess I will go at it with some sand paper either wed. or thursday and see how that goes, maybe even get my drimmils wire brush on it.

sorry for any incorrect spellings, it 2 am and I just got home from work

TomP

I wouldn't worry about the surface rust, as long as it doesn't interfere with getting a close airgap- but you can't do the air gap anyway with the dist in the car. All of those just work on magnetism, so if they're a bit rusty, it's ok.

dxacer01

Just a thought but could my coil have anything to do with this?

ALso I was testing each vacuum by its self, I never hooked it up to the whole system (while still together at once) i am going to try that now, I will let you know the results.

dxacer01

It came up running about at about 20 solid, would slightly jump when engine was given gas, driving to Autozone to get a new Coil, Coil ground strap, Dist. Cap and rotor, spark plugs....Any know of anything else I should get?

85f-bird

not sure exactly what type of problems your having, can you fill me in. I know u said surging, and i'm wordering where @, maybe i should look for other posts and whatnot, but for now, i'll just go out on a limb.

I had a surging problem w/ mine once, would surge at high RPM, a hesitate, jerkin motion, at low RPM there was litterally no trouble, but when it got up high, the problems began. The problem ended up being related to my pickup coil, it's located near the top of the distributor (should be visible in your pix) normally a yellowish color, and you'd think you'd be able to get to it w/o pulling the distributor, but you definately can't. Replacing it was the first time i pulled the distributor out of my car, not the last however, and honestly, i'm not particicularlly worried about pulling it, it really isn't that big of a deal, just a matter of reading and re-reading what needs to be done before you do it.

So tell me whats going on w/ urs.

dxacer01

Mine surges at a low rpm, it sounds like it wants to backfire sometimes, but it will do it out of no where, one second fine, next its surging almost like its not getting any fuel. (you can check out this post for more here ) But it will do it then run fine, some times will not do it at all. I've never even had the car above 4000 rpms, i most times shift at 2500 rpms and have it sitting at 1500 to 2000 when driving

Naft

ok, so which is this in the picture . . . is that the ICM or the pickup coil . . . cause i need to replace whichever one it isnt.

dxacer01

Ok replaced Dist. Cap, Rotor, and plugs. I also test the pressure in each cylinders and here where the results


5-135psi 6-120psi
3-100psi 4-120psi
1-110psi 2-110psi

not sure if changing all this has helped as i don't have any i need to drive to right now, but i will keep you informed. What psi should my engine be at?

Naft

ouch. no sure what the bottom tolerances are for out motors, but your compression should definitly be higher than that. i'd feel good about 150-160 on an old motor like ours, but not 100.

dxacer01

Let me make sure i tested it right, I would remove one spark plug screw in the tester plug, tightin it, hook up the gauge, start the car, let it run for about 5-10seconds, turn it off, and the highest point the guage hit I would record that reading.


did i do the test right or no?

Naft

well, the way i would do it is:

1) run the car until its warm(5 minutes at idle maybe)
2) pull the fuel pump fuse and run until it dies
3) pull the wire from the coil to the dist.
4) remove a plug and put in the guage
5) crank over several times to get a steady reading

when the car is cold it consistently gives lower readings, and having fuel in the cylinder changes the compression characteristics of the air. i would hold the throttle all the way open to, to help make sure the cylinder fully fills.

you can probably google some better instructions, but that should get you started.

dxacer01

yeah the instructions that came with it where only in spanish and french, yet the package was in english....go figure

85f-bird

sounds like a decent compression check to me....we do em on airplanes alot, but those are essentially pressurizing the cylinders and reading the results on a percentage over 80psi, if the ratio gets to large, start doing the leak down (with a pressurized cylinder, thats real easy too....

as for that picture, what's circield is the ignition control module (ICM), i'll see if i can pick out the pickup coil...its right above that unit, and is being pointed to in red...above the metal stars (magnets) and below the cap, kinda hidden, small yellowish color disc setup with white insulation tape around it.

85f-bird

better picture

Naft

ya thx, i went to the parts store and asked to see a pickup coil, they showed me and so i got one.

i had previously been told by somone that "there is no such thing as a pickup coil for your car, we have an ignition coil and an ignition control module." i knew about ICMs at that time, and just assumed that they were the same name for a different thing when the parts guy said there was no such thing as a pickup coil. in their computer it was called a "coil adapter" or some crazy term like that. w/e, its all good now. im gonna install it tomorrow. no way around pulling the dizzy though? and does the distributor come out with the engine in its resting position? it doesnt seem like it would pull all the way out(firewall in the way).

85f-bird

the distributor really isn't as long as you might thing it is...there's probably 4-5 inches actually in the motor, the rest is stickign up, its pretty small...be prepared for some heart-ache though, i've heard of people prying like crazy trying to get distributors out of engines, i was lucky, and my engine is now only 4-5 years old, getting the unit out was as easy as if the car was brand new. Make sure you mark it's location when it's pulled out, you'll probably be able to get the timing close enough to get the engine to start, but after that, you'll have to time it again once you put the stuff back together. Best of luck.

Naft

I pulled the dizzy on my truck when i replaced the intake, and i dont know about our cars(it was a 93 gmc 2500), but the distributor would only go back in one way--the right one--and my timing ended up being like 2* off. ive got a light either way, so w/e.

dxacer01

So the car seems to be running great now, stronger then it has in a long time, I hope this solved it. Oh i had a friend translate the instructions on the pressure gauge, they want you to let the car run till it has gotten to "normal" operating temp. I guess they don't realize just how close are hands are to that damn exhaust manifold huh? lol

BTW I have had two comments on my pressure, one good one bad.. Can anyone let me know if my engine did well or should i be scared?

85f-bird

have u redone ur pressure since you got the car warmed up? or was it warm to begin w/? if it was warm, i'd say that your readings are very low....on average what i've seen around here was about 130-160 psi on all cylinders. Ideally, you want your readings to be close, i'd say w/in 20% of each other, if one was way low, or way high, you might be having a problem on that one. Sounds like ur engine is just wearing itself out, if that's the readings you got. Think w/ my new engine, all cylinders were reading between 180-190, but that just what the installers said they tested at, not sure what to expect now, lol, haven't found the need to run compression as i have yet to need to diagnose a problem with it.

dxacer01

i think what it might be is that they want me (in the instructions) to unhook all the plugs and just crank the car for 5-10 seconds and not have the car start, I did one time start the car two times without releasing the pressure and it came out to 160 so maybe thats what it needs to test, because i would just start the car and let it run, by letting it just pump without starting it seemed to build up alot more pressure....hmmm I want to do it warm, but how do i avoid burning the hell outta my hands lol?

Naft

just be careful.

id you go nice and slow there is enough room down there to avoid burning yourself . . . there are heat shields around most of the plug holes too, so that will help keep you safe. if you want get some leather work gloves, that should provide ample protection in case of a slight brush against a pipe or something.

TomP

That's the procedure I follow. Also, by wiring the throttle body's butterfly to wide open throttle (or flooring the gas while you crank the motor), no gas gets into the cylinders. At WOT the computer goes into "clear flood mode" and won't pulse the injectors.

Just make sure the spark-coil-to-distributor-cap wire is unhooked or you'll get a hell of a surprise (engine starting, revving up to 6500 RPM and exploding)!!

1989karr

"Just make sure the spark-coil-to-distributor-cap wire is unhooked or you'll get a hell of a surprise (engine starting, revving up to 6500 RPM and exploding)!! "

ouch! So all you have to do is remove the coil wire and let it hang?