Where the heck is the #1 Spark Plug wire supposed to be on the Distributor?

[Zed Head]

The OP should post more details about how he got in to the situation. Did he just do some work on the engine? What kind of work? What work besides distributor? What is the measured timing value?

Jeff G, any chance that a ZX mount ended up on the 260Z distributor in your case? Maybe even in the OP's case if he started from parts. That would limit the range of adjustment.

[Jeff G 78]

The OP should post more details about how he got in to the situation. Did he just do some work on the engine? What kind of work? What work besides distributor? What is the measured timing value?

Jeff G, any chance that a ZX mount ended up on the 260Z distributor in your case? Maybe even in the OP's case if he started from parts. That would limit the range of adjustment.

No, in my case the distributor itself was not aligned "right". It had nothing to do with the mount. The relationship between the rotor and slot on the bottom of the distributor was off.

[siteunseen]

I'm sorry. There isn't a 6 o'clock, 7 & 5 o'clock. But would backing up 1 hole all the way around the distributor retard timing?

[73 240Z Man]

Ok fella's, I have to break in here... my brain is hurting. I will give you a little background... The car has a L26 which was rebuilt and bored to a L28, high lift cam etc around 20 years ago... It has always had timing issues ever since. I believe the mechanic that rebuilt it installed the distributor off a tooth since I cannot get it timed right..

As it is, when the #1 is at TDC, the rotor is pointing to roughly 8:00 which seems to be correct to me but I cant get enough advance into it to make it run right. When advanced all the way, it barely runs at idle, but runs great above 3500 RPM.

I tried moving the plug wires to the right (clockwise) but then had the opposite problem. (It had to be retarded as far as possible and it ran better at idle, but popped/etc at high RPM.

I think this means it's off one tooth and if I am not mistaken, I need to remove the oil pump and rotate the shaft counter clockwise... Please correct me if I'm wrong..

Thanks for all of your input thus far.... please keep it coming...

Chris

[Jeff G 78]

Chris, please set the rotor at the #1 firing position and take a picture of the distributor. Next, pull the distributor and take a picture of the shaft and post it. We can easily tell if your shaft is rotated or not.

[Zed Head]

rebuilt and bored to a L28, high lift cam etc around 20 years ago... It has always had timing issues ever since. I believe the mechanic that rebuilt it installed the distributor off a tooth since I cannot get it timed right..

I cant get enough advance into it to make it run right. When advanced all the way, it barely runs at idle, but runs great above 3500 RPM.

I tried moving the plug wires to the right (clockwise) but then had the opposite problem. (It had to be retarded as far as possible and it ran better at idle, but popped/etc at high RPM.

I think this means it's off one tooth and if I am not mistaken, I need to remove the oil pump and rotate the shaft counter clockwise... Please correct me if I'm wrong..

Thanks for all of your input thus far.... please keep it coming...

Chris

I'm a little perplexed as to why you want to take things apart based on guesses. Why don't you take a measurement? You might find that your timing is perfect and you've been chasing your tail ("it has to be the timing") since the beginning. It could be cam timing. It could be a vacuum leak. It could be the carbs. It could be the "etc.".

You should get a timing light and see what's really going on. If someone's telling you it has to be the timing and you don't need to measure it, stop listening to that person.

[73 240Z Man]

@ Jeff - Will do. I will try to post pics after work today...

@ Zed Head - I don't want to take things apart... That's why I am asking you fella's. I believe the carbs are not the problem since I can get it to run right when I remove the Dist. adjustment screw and go past where the screw limits it. As far as using a light on it, It doesn't idle. So i am not sure how to use the light without it idling. Honestly, after your post, I am ready to shoot the darn thing... There are no Z mechanics within reasonable distance of my house or I would just take it to one. Plus, it is now my mission to get this figured out. As I told Jeff, I will post pics of the shaft/rotor later today.

Thanks for your input..

[Zed Head]

Well, even a reading at higher RPM would tell you something. Disconnect the vacuum advance, take a reading at a known RPM and people here could estimate correctness based on the centrifugal advance curve. Or, even simpler, take the distributor cap off and rotate the engine around by hand until the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug position and the points are just starting to open, then note where the timing mark is. That will get you within a few degrees of your static timing.

Good luck. I get the feeling though, that you're focused on timing because you don't know for sure where it's set. If you knew, you'd probably look somewhere else for the source of the problem. My engine will idle with timing set to zero, or twenty or anywhere in between. Initial timing is not usually the cause of a poor idle.

[73 240Z Man]

Jeff... here are pics of the Rotor and Shaft with #1 @ TDC.

[73 240Z Man]

Sorry... they came out sideways....

[Jeff G 78]

OK Chris, your shaft is NOT at 11:25 when the rotor is facing at 9 o'clock. If you remove the oil pump and rotate the shaft until the orientation is correct, the distributor rotor will turn counterclockwise from where it is towards 7 o'clock which will be WORSE than it is now. I *think* you have the same distributor issue I had.

Can you do one more test? With the distributor still off, turn the rotor until it points exactly at the reference per Blue's picture and then turn the distributor over and take a photo of the shaft slot. I want to compare it to my 260 dizzy that is off by 60°.

[fastd]

what ever happened here; I think I might be having the same problem; my dizzy looks like 73 240z Man's did on 9/24/2012...?