74 260z distributor on wrong ??

[Shawninvancouver]

I have been informed it looks like my dizzy was put in off kilter.  not put in properly..  can someone explain to me how this happens.>?  should vacuum point to front of car or drivers headlight? does it need to be flipped around? re adjusted? wrong dizzy? mount to engine on wrong?

i was also told that this is caused by the oil pump gear haft/rod put in wrong. but how does that change where the dizzy sits??  i have looked in the fsm how the dizzy goes on but it does not show how it goes on the mount to engine.  this car has never sparked so something is messed up here.  any help would again be great.. they previous owner had all plugs lined up from 6 at fan and  1 at firewall...

[Patcon]

This should be in one of the other threads

[Shawninvancouver]

possibly, but I thought it was a separate topic. 

[heyitsrama]

@Shawninvancouver by reducing the number of threads created you enable others to get see the progression of a discussion (and the progression of the steps that you are attempting while troubleshooting).In the future this also allows for threads to be located by new members, or by people that are searching the web for references to their problems.

Reducing threads also encourages other members to come back to a discussion and offer input.

For example, the discussion is not fragmented across multiple threads we can reference this thread about distributor shaft positioning:

 

[Zed Head]

3 hours ago, Shawninvancouver said:

i was also told that this is caused by the oil pump gear haft/rod put in wrong. but how does that change where the dizzy sits?

The oil pump driveshaft and distributor drive quill determine where the rotor will point.  The distributor pedestal/base and the mounting plate under the distributor body determine where the distributor body (the vacuum canister and pickup coil) will sit.

That's why putting the #1 plug wire on the distributor cap terminal often works when people get their parts mixed up and assembled incorrectly.

Have you had the distributor out yet?  Put the ignition timing mark on zero with #1 on the compression stroke and see if the half-moon looks like this picture.  If it does then just getting a new and correct distributor might solve your problems.

I borrowed this from a Chickenman post. @siteunseen has a good picture too.

[siteunseen]

I think if you read this you may understand what we're saying. You should pull the dizzy out and see where the spindle is sitting. Get the motor at tdc, explained in this thread, then pull the distributor. It could be something simple but the only way to find out is get out there and try to figure it out yourself. We'll help all we can but there's no shortcuts looking at a screen.

When you're at tdc and then remove the distributor this is what you should see...

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by siteunseen

[Shawninvancouver]

ok.. here is photo with dizzzy off.. this should be tdc as mark is allgned on notch  should be compression stroke....

what does this look like..

 

[siteunseen]

It's 180 degrees off plus a tooth or 2 off the spindle gear. The small side should be facing the radiator. Your's, the windshield. You have to drop the oil pump to correct this. It's not a big deal just a big pain in the arse being your so close to cranking the motor.

Your's 

The correct way...

[siteunseen]

P.s

It's very common that happens. Guys that just don't know do it all the time. My pride and joy 240 was bought for pennies from some Ford shop because it wouldn't  run. I got on this wonderful forum and bought tom monroe's book and figured it out. Now it's my casket.

 

 

[Shawninvancouver]

1. Hi siteunseen..  look at my lsat photo --  i am not sure if you noticed but i did a few photos of the shaft position.. some photos were ( what i thought was tdc ) then i spun the wheel with mark  around again then took another photo.. so the one you see may not be tdc - it may not be the compression stroke.  so i may just be offa tooth or two..  can the car still run?  can i just put the #1 spark plug to where the rotor is pointing to?? i think that how the last guys had it going. - maybe drive it home then fix it...

Edited June 9, 2021 by Shawninvancouver

[siteunseen]

14 minutes ago, Shawninvancouver said:

1. Hi siteunseen..  look at my lsat photo --  i am not sure if you noticed but i did a few photos of the shaft position.. some photos were ( what i thought was tdc ) then i spun the wheel with mark  around again then took another photo.. so the one you see may not be tdc - it may not be the compression stroke.  so i may just be offa tooth or two..  can the car still run?  can i just put the #1 spark plug to where the rotor is pointing to?? i think that how the last guys had it going. - maybe drive it home then fix it...

That last pic is better, small facing radiator. You need to definately confirm tdc compression. It's not that hard to do if you look back over the threads we've posted. First 2 cam lobes point north west and north east almost like rabbit ears. Get it to true tdc and if the small side of the spindle faces the radiator you should be able to reinstall the dizzy, advance it all the way clockwise and get it to crank.

Some of the smarter guys will correct me if I'm wrong. Love those guys!

[Zed Head]

Was there a screw in this hole that held the distributor down?  Or was the distributor free-floating?  It's still unclear how the distributor was rotated so far away from where it should have been, as site/cliff/unseen noted in an earlier post.

You're making progress...