I’ve managed to mess up the ignition timing of the car!
I took the distributor out, sent it off to be rebuilt and when I got it back I fitted as it was. The motor hadn’t been turned over so I figured that it would all be the same. I made up a new set of HT Leads and I thought I put them back in the same order as I took them out. I know the firing order is (from the rear) 1,5,3,6,2,4, and that the distributor rotates anti-clockwise. As it’s a new cap, so I’m guessing I have the HT Leads one out in rotation.
Can anyone simply tell me (preferably with a photo) which is number one on the distributor cap please?
I’m feeling a little foolish at present so please don’t be too hard on me!
Hi Tim, we have been there, done that. If its admitted or no. Remember # 6 cylinder is closest to the radiator. Engine OFF. Turn engine until timing mark is at TDC. Take off oil filler cap and see cam lobes pointing UP. This is where the rotor is pointing to #1 cylinder. Put the wires in cap as appropriate. Turn dist anti clockwise a
very small amount. RETARD TIMING. Tighten dist hold down to snug, NOT LOCKED. Fire it up and you should be in business.
Any of the 6 cap holes where the sparkpulg wire go can be #1. It DEPENDS on ROTOR position at TDC
I managed to work it out by putting the timing marks on the Harmonic Balancer to where they were supposed to be - 7 deg BTDC, then I looked at the position of the rotor. It seems that managed to get the positioning of the HT Leads 180 deg out!! Never trust your memory once past 50! Once I knew which was the correct position on the Distributor Cap for No. 1 I was able to do the rest. Hey, presto it ran!! However, as is always the case, the fuel pump sprang a huge leak and flooded the boot (Insert rude words here). I only discovered that when I took it for a drive around the block and could smell petrol. The car had no power so I assume that was getting no fuel? I’ll go back to the car tomorrow and replace the burst fuel line. I’ll then do a static timing check as well as re-check the points gap.
Timothy,
You were certainly not the first to install the distributor 180 degrees out nor will you be the last.
Last year I purchased a crash damaged 1987 XJ6 as a parts car in order to transplant it’s smooth running 4.2L XK engine into one of my other Jaguars. As part of the pre-transplant preparations I did a compreesion check and then replaced the spark plugs with the correct new ones properly gapped along with new spark plug leads. I didn’t keep track of which leads came off of which plugs because I KNEW the correct order by heart. Much to my surprise the engine did not start again after this work despite good compression, good fuel to the fuel rail, and a nice fat blue spark at the plug wires. I was initially stumped, but then I remembered that the engine would run with the distributor installed 180 out if the plug wires were also 180 out. I reordered the wires at the distributor and the engine started very nicely on the first try. It appears that the distributor in my new parts car had been removed at some point in the past and the current distributor installed 180 out. I am certain tgat whoever did this recognized their mistake, but rather than remove and reinstall the distributor the correct way they just reordered the plug leads 180 out instead.
NOTES TO SELF: 1. Always note the arrangement of the spark plug leads, especially at the distributor, and write it on some masking tape applied to each lead BEFORE removing the leads. 2. When removing and replacing the distributor make sure that it is not installed 180 out.
Hi, So let me add IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to install a LUCAS distributor 180 degrees out. What is possible is to install it at TDC on the exhaust phase of the firing cycle. Unlike an American distributor driven by a helical gear meshed against a gear on the camshaft the Lucas has a tang that inserts into a dog on the crankshaft. These two are both offset and can only mesh ONE WAY. Either at TDC compression stroke or 360 degree rotation of the crankshaft TDC exhaust stroke. WHAT CHANGES is where the rotor is pointing. WHEREVER that is can be used as # 1. Remember the camshaft makes 1 rotation for two rotations of the crankshaft. Position of cam vs crank give compression and when to fire the sparkplug.
Pete
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Pete,
That is exactly what I meant by “180 degrees out”. You certainly described it much more clearly than the way that I did. Thanks for the clarification.
Ian,
Thanks, I will have to get some of those. I just replaced the leads on my 1990 V12 Vanden Plas with OEM Jaguar ones and they already had those number tags on them but some of my six cylinder Jaguars do not have those tags on them. This should help. Thank you for the tip.
