HELP! I'VE SCREWED UP!

[malcolm]

Big help needed. Just tried to fit a new electronic ignition (powerspark) to replace the existing one. Everything went well until I undid something I shouldn't. Underneath the rotor arm, there is a screw in the centre of the distributor shaft. I thought I had to undo it to remove the old electronic collar. I didn't. I tightened it up again, but the distributor cap wouldn't fit because the shaft seemed to have risen a little. I undid the screw again, and fiddled with the shaft, which then went in lower, and the cap fits again. However, the rotor arm can be rotated about 30 degrees manually, so something isn't right. Needless to say, the car won't start. Completely dead.
What have I done, and how do I sort it!
This stupid idiot needs help.

[mgcjag]

Hi Malcom... good diagram here that will help you put it back together....suggest you remove it and work on the bench http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/standard-i ... utors.html sounds like you possibly dislodged the plate/springs/weights etc

[christopher storey]

Malcolm : on that diagram that Steve has linked, the rotor shaft top half (16) has two spigots underneath the lower surface of the plate, and they fit into the holes in the bob weights ( 18), which in turn are positioned on the spigots on the top side of the lower half of the shaft ( 19) . What you have done is to lift the upper shaft and plate so that the spigots have disengaged. Impossible to rectify on the car, but perhaps 20 minutes work on the bench . You need to remove the base plate which holds the condenser and contact breaker, take that pesky screw out again, lift the shaft and plate and re-engage the bob weights on the spigots ensuring that the springs are in place and that the bob weights are on their lower spigots, and then carefully lower the whole lot back and replace first the centre screw and then the baseplate

[Durango2k]

You can get no1 and 6 out of alignment by 180 degs, btw.

So, you'd also need to know which cylinder is in firing stroke, cause this is where the rotor arm needs to face towards to.

Ask me how I learned that lesson....

Carsten

[malcolm]

Thanks guys! Good diagram Steve, and great directions on using it Christopher! I managed to avoid the trap Carsten. Now rebuilt, (weights had come off) and engine running sweetly. Thanks again!