Bodiam Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Just refitted my refurbished distributor (CP engine, 22D distributor) and tightened the clamp as I always have, nip up then tighten a bit further. However, with the engine running, the distributor appears to be moving relative to the rest of the engine - not moving round, but rocking slightly from side to side. I've made sure the clamp is level and located correctly as far as I can tell, but the only way I can reduce the rocking (but not eliminate it) is to continue tightening the clamp and I'm worried I may be on the point of causing some damage, either to the clamp or the distributor body. Has anyone else noticed this sort of movement and has anyone got a more scientific way of deciding how tight the distributor clamp should be? Thanks in advance for any advice. John Doyle Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony Millward Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 John, try loosening the bolt(s) that hold the clamp down which will enable dizzy to centralize itself..then tighten it back up. Cheers Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Your pedestal is not set right Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Thank you Tony and Neil - I have had the dizzy on and off a dozen times and tried centralising the clamp every way I can think of, but still I get an oscillating movement when the engine is running, so I've sent it back to the repairers to have it all checked for alignment. Apparently, the 22D body is in two parts, so I'm hoping it's not coming apart! Neil -not sure what you mean by the pedestal not being set right, could you explain a bit more, please? Thanks again, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 John http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID007952 Item 102 hold mouse over info icon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Neil, Many thanks, hadn't realised it was set up like that. Only had my first TR for a couple of months, and I've clearly got a lot to learn! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PJM Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 This is the place for you then, you'll get everything you need here, just remember to try the suggestions and let us know how you get on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Certainly will - I have the feeling I'll be posting queries regularly, if the problems I've had over the past few months are anything to go by! Very reassuring that such expertise is available to a new owner like me. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 John Before rushing in check the clamp is flat and the answer to your question is not very Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jamesStag Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hi John, Your post is also interesting to me. I've owned my first TR6 since last Nov. Have since fitted lumenition (which the engine liked) but I also notice that I can see the whole distributer just gently rocking about a little at tickover. Like you I rechecked the clamp, all is tight and the timing is holding fine. Neil - I see you talk about the shims that are in the pedestal arrangment. I'm not that familiar with the setup, but at a guess is the issue that more shims are required to lift the distributer up a little? thanks, James. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 James, While not taking any pleasure from your also having a problem, it is a bit reassuring for me, as I was beginning to think I was getting paranoid about this distributor! Neil - now I've had a chance to give it some more thought, I see that the shims you refer to will affect the position of the distributor up and down, but I'm not sure how that would affect my radial movement. Am I missing something? Thanks for your advice, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PJM Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 (edited) It will remove any slack sorry, end float if it is shimmed correctly as per the brown bible Edited May 17, 2013 by PJM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tjs Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 John Before rushing in check the clamp is flat and the answer to your question is not very Yes check the two arms of pinch clamp are flat and not misaligned. PO of my car had over tightened to such extent as to bend the clamp... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Thanks for all the suggestions. Progress to date - have had the distributor checked over by Martin Jay, who has realigned the drive dog by 3 thou, but otherwise given it a clean bill of health. Refitted the unit last night with a new clamp and found an improvement, but there is still visible movement of the dizzy relative to the block when the engine is running. If I take hold of the distributor and rock it, side to side movement can be felt, but not at the clamp, so I am assuming the movement is at the drive dog end. However, the dizzy bottoms solidly into the drive when fitting, so I can't see how shimming the pedestal would help to eliminate this. I'm at a loss to know what to try next and any comments gratefully received (I did have a look at another TR6 at Gaydon on Sunday, but that dizzy was rock solid as far as I could see) Thanks again for your help. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PJM Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Have you measured the end float as instructed in the brown bible? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Hi, PJM, I've looked at the procedure but, not having any micrometers (and the work starting to look a bit outside my comfort zone!) I haven't taken that suggestion forward yet. What would be the thinking there - I can't visualise how altering the up and down position of the distributor relative to the drive would alter the side-to-side movement that I'm experiencing? Sorry to be so dim, I'm on a steep learning curve here! Thanks for your interest. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PJM Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) You need to set it up as the manufacturer intended before diagnosing faults, simple engineering really. We cannot help you to identify the fault if it has not been set up correctly. Looks as if you have tried everything except setting is as the manfacturer instructions, so that is where I would start. You can get a vernier from ebay for about £15 so less than 15 minutes worth of a garage mechanics time. Got to be worth a punt. Edited May 24, 2013 by PJM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 I would pull the drive dog and check for damaged teeth,as you need to find this or your dizzy will only be going back to Martin again Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Thanks for your comments, PJM, looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and hope my rudimentary skills are up to the task! I would like to understand though, before I take on what is for me quite a difficult piece of work, why I have an oscillating movement at the distributor when the end float will only affect the up and down position of the distributor drive dog relative to the drive. Any explanation would be welcome - thank you. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 If you have no end float the oil pressure and direction of rotation will force to much strain on the dizzy,as a test try it with the dizzy not quite fully home in the clamp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Thanks, Neil, your suggestions are very welcome. I needed some way of convincing myself that the problem was probably related to end float before I got stuck in and you've given me the means of doing that. Regards, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PJM Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 That's me done then! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Hi, PJM, So sorry if I inadvertently gave the impression that your advice had not been valuable - I really appreciate your help. Best wishes, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted May 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Neil, Have followed your suggestion and lifted the distributor in the clamp by 25 thou, but the oscillaing distributor movement has not changed, which seems to suggest that altering the end float in the pedestal would not cure my problem. I'd be very pleased for any further comments. Many thanks for everyone's interest, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Owing to other, non-TR related problems, had to put my rocking distributor on the back burner for a time, but have now managed to resolve the problem, so thought I should share it. Taking great care over levelling the clamp (and fitting a new one), gave some improvement. However, after discussing some other matters with Adam at Moss, he mentioned that he had heard of a similar problem which was resolved by fitting a new O-ring to the distributor stem. Tried this, and I now have a steady distributor - a cheap fix, for once! Hope this may be helpful to anyone else with the same problem, and many thanks to everyone who contributed to my enquiry earlier. Kind Regards, John PS - to jamesStag (a fellow sufferer) - PM sent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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