Crane XR 700 does it increase performance

[zdude1967]

I installed the XR 70O purchased from motorsports with the thought it would increase my cars performance. I have a late year 260z with dome carbs. I really don't know if it does anything other then make my tach run a little screwy. What are your thoughts who has this setup and is it an improvement over the stock set up.   Should I keep it or take it out and have a more steady tach? your thoughts

 

 

[Zed Head]

Might be easier to just fix the tach problem.  What is it doing?

Higher energy spark generally helps for leaner mixtures (emissions), richer mixtures like you might find with a high performance cam at times, turbo engines with high cylinder pressures, stuff like that.  It reduces the number of misfires.  Once the spark starts a fire, performance is on its way.  For general driving around in the car, probably not much difference.

[SteveJ]

The 260Z already has an electronic ignition, so that will limit your gains right there. 

Having used a Crane 3000 on a 240Z in the past (like over 20 years ago...), I recall the instructions talking about removing the points, etc. What modifications did you do to the 260Z distributor since it does not have points? Did you unplug the transistor ignition unit (TIU)?

For the 260Z and 280Z, the reluctor in the distributor triggers the TIU. The TIU completes the path to ground that causes the energy stored in the coil to be released to cause a spark. This circuit for grounding is monitored by the tachometer for the pulse needed to indicate the RPM of the engine. In order to get the tachometer to function properly, you would have to modify the wiring so the wire that the tach uses to monitor the TIU is monitoring the ground leg of the Crane.

[zdude1967]

The tach bounces because of the crane. I think in the instructions it mentions something about that. It was rock solid with the original. I did switch out the dizzy parts for what was included with the crane.Do you guys feel it increased your cars performance over stock. Because if it really does nothing but is rather a same / same replacement for stock  then I will just go back to stock....thoughts, comments 

[SteveJ]

What parts did you remove from the distributor? Are you sure the TIU isn't getting a signal from the distributor? Did you unplug the TIU?

When asking for help, it is good to give specific answers to questions asked. We need to know EXACTLY what you did because we can't see it ourselves. It's the details you leave out that make responses wild guesses instead of clear diagnostics. Let me give you an example. I went to a friend's house to help with an ignition issue on a 260Z. He said the car would start but die when the key went to run. From that, I had a clear idea of where to start looking for the problem. However, the car would not start when I was at his house. I tried to diagnose the issue, but I was stumped about the sudden lack of spark. My diagnostics suggested I look at the TIU, but it was not in the passenger footwell. Eventually it came out that the son had removed the aftermarket AC, and the TIU had been re-mounted by a previous owner onto the mounting bracket for the evaporator. The son did not think it was an important detail that he had been removing parts from the car. After we re-installed the TIU, I was able to confirm my diagnosis, and they had a running 260Z.

The Crane 3000 was an improvement over the points based system in my 240Z, but that is a completely different setup from yours. Most of the improvement was due to the fact that I suck at setting points. I don't need a Crane ignition on my 260Z since a previous owner did the ZX distributor/ignition swap into the car, and that ignition works fine, so I cannot comment on performance differences.

I cannot tell what the issue is with for sure your tachometer because you didn't answer my questions in my previous post.

Edited February 22, 2019 by SteveJ
Corrected an error.

[Pop's Z]

I installed the Crane XR 700 and coil when I first got my Z in 2005 to replace the point system. It worked OK, but there was no difference in performance. Later on I replaced that distributor with one from a ZX, also no performance gain, but reliable spark. No tach problems with either one. As has been said many times here the best bang for the buck performance-wise is cylinder head /cam work. I have been very happy with my F54 block and N42 head with a stage 2 Delta cam, Z Therapy carbs, and MSA header/exhaust system.

Cheers, Mike

[Zed Head]

The XR700 is the "low energy" version of their electronic ignition.  It keeps the ballast resistor and is basically just a points replacement.  The XR3000 has current-limiting technology and is designed to use a lower resistance coil so that you can use a larger plug gap.

SteveJ is asking about the ignition module that your 260Z came with.  It's the finned aluminum thing by the fuse box.  The blue wire needs to be disconnected from it, at least.  Might as well disconnect all of them.

I've posted this before but sometimes a capacitor/condenser on the negative side can suck up some voltage spikes.  I'm not sure how Crane's adapter works, it needs an external power supply.  Your tach is the voltage sensing type, not the Smith.

http://www.triumphspitfire.com/images/cranemanual.pdf

[zdude1967]

I have to refer back to the install instructions to answer your questions. It has been installed for over a year. I did exactly what the instructions called for . This version of the crane is specific to the 260z. I remember I had to put this disc shaped thing in the dizzy and disconnect the original ignition module located by the fuse box. The tach works but intermittently either drops then regains or bounces. I was told this is from the tach technology not matching up perfectly with the crane. Tomorrow I will look for the install instructions so I can answer your questions- not trying to ignore them just don't have the answers without the instructions. The main purpose of this however is to determine if the crane is any better then stock. If I kept the crane coil and put everything back the way it was, the stuff from the dizzy and the original ignition module would the car perform any differently then it does now.

 

[Zed Head]

40 minutes ago, zdude1967 said:

I have to refer back to the install instructions to answer your questions.

 Tomorrow I will look for the install instructions 

 

5 hours ago, Zed Head said:

http://www.triumphspitfire.com/images/cranemanual.pdf

They're right here.

The tachs seem sensitive to the voltage pulse.  People often have problems with the MSD ignition systems too.  I had problems with a GM HEI module.

The XR700 is about exactly like what you replaced.  No real benefit.  You could put the old stuff back and keep the Crane as an emergency spare.