Kyle,
On the distributor:
Pop the cap, remove the rotor. Remove the screws holding the vacuum advance to
the distributor, and pop the vacuum advance arm from the breaker plate. Remove
the two screws that hold the spring clamps that lock down the cap. Now you can
lift up the entire breaker plate assembly, as a whole, without disturbing the
points setting.
Rotate the breaker plate halves against each other, and check that it rotates
effortlessly without snagging. Are there grooves worn into the plates where the
3 steel balls separate the top and bottom plates? If so, this can be causing
"lumpy" acceleration. Take a look inside the bottom of the distributor body. Is
there gunk inside it, hanging up the springs and weights? Spray it out, with
WD-40. As long as you don't touch anything else, you can reassemble everything
without the point settings being changed.
Don't take out the distributor, unless you're not worried about going anywhere
for a while. It's easy to mess up on the alignment for putting it back in. I've
little experience on how it should feel when out of the car. A new one I got had
no up and down movement of the shaft, while older ones I've checked had a lot of
vertical play. Needless to say, the new one made the engine drive sweet, while
the old ones gave me a rough idle, all-over-the-place-timing and backfiring.
----
Head gasket:
I think Stop Leak is a waste of money. Pulling the head isn't so hard. Feel the
oil. Does it feel watery? Is there moisture blowing out the exhaust? How do the
plugs look? I think Dean is selling thicker head-gaskets that'll lower the
compression.
Good luck!
Fred - So.SF
_________________________ Reply Separator ____________________________
>Subject: Temp sender, head retorque, dist (2000)
>Author: Kyle Hagemann <kyle@sonic.net>
>Date: 4/3/99 8:58 AM
>
>Hi all;
> Now that my sah-weet running '66 1600 has been sold (down-tha-road to
>LA,
>you'll probably see her on the list soon:-) I've started to think about my
>neglected '69 2L.
>
>I bought it in early December, and just haven't had time to monkey with it
>yet. A couple-three things:
>
>The temp sender isn't functioning right; I understand that this is
>epidemic. What's the fix? I can't see an easy way to ground the sender
>body....
>
>I fear that the head gasket may be leaking; I'mma check the compression and
>see what happens. Can the head gasket be retorqued? Is Stop Leak a good
>idea, or given the cantankerous nature of the U20, should I just put a new
>head gasket in? (oh yeah, what are the valve clearances supposed to be?)
>(oh, and are there thicker head gaskets available to lower the CR? I hate
>the thought of spending $1.75/gal for gas)
>
>In further persuit of high-RPM fun, I'm going to take the distributor out
>and inspect it; Here's the problem - It's VERY strong from idle, then it
>pretty much runs out of steam at 4,500 or 5,000 RPM; The carbs are set up
>well, AFAIK, but that's as far as I've taken it. The idle is kinda strange
>- it will fall back to 1,300 or so really quick when the pedal is released,
>and then SLOWLY settle back to a lumpy 900 or so. I'm suspicious that the
>mechanical advance isn't performing properly; maybe a bit of crud gumming
>up the works, or a broken spring, or something. Anyway, enough babbling -
>my questions are:
>
> 1) do SU U20's crap out at 5,000 RPM as a matter of course
> - if so, are there better needles available (reminds me of my
> L28/SU 240Z before a needle change, FWIW)
>
> 2) should the distributor be worked over, change the advance curve, etc.?
> - if so, is it something a competent shade-tree can do?
> - if not, who does it, how long, and how much $$?
>
> 3) any pointers on how the dist is supposed to "feel" when out of the car?
>
>TIA,
>
> ____ Kyle Hagemann, Born-Again Grease Monkey From Beyond
> _.;(____\____ 72 240Z, L28, 5spd, poly, etc. - The Z-Beast
>| _ | | _'@`, 69 2000, U20, goes like stink - no name yet!
>`-(@)------(@)-; 84 Maxima, 280ZX in sedan disguise - Mr. Max
>http://www.sonic.net/~kyle 240Z tech info, Win95/8 theme, etc.
> l i f e i s t o o s h o r t t o
> d r i v e b o r i n g c a r s
>
|