3.9i Disco distributor issues

[MacMan]

Well, doing some serious head scratching now. This afternoon I went to check a few things out on the Disco to try and destress from work and I have found myself in a bit of a pickle. I took off the distriutor cap and the end of the rotor needed a bit of a clean. Normally these things should just pop off, but not this one. Eventually after much straining the button comes off (shaft rusty), but not before the whole distributor shaft popped up about 5mm. Problem is, the shaft now has about 90 degrees of rotation between firm stops and moves up and down through the "new" 5mm far too easily.

If the drive gear and shaft are anything like the old Rangie diagram I have, then I have a terrible feeling that something sinister is going on at the gear end. The older Rangie shaft has a cross pin which locates the drive gear on the shaft - is the Disco arrangement the same? I haven't removed the dizzy unit yet and I'm not game to until I have a clearer understanding of the business end inside.

All advice considered.

Cheers,

Mike

[PhilipA]

This is from Range Rovers Net
Rotor Arm Stuck: More than one RR owner has found the rotor arm stuck fast to the distributor shaft when trying to replace it during routine maintenance. Pulling up too hard on the rotor can break the plastic C-clip that holds the upper and lower parts of the distributor drive shaft together. Then you will have toi take the whole distributor out to put it back together. If it is stuck, break the old rotor off by hammering DOWN with a screwdriver or chisel and break it into pieces to get it off the shaft. Or use a center punch instread of a screwdriver.
.
Regard s Philip A

[LRHybrid100]

I did the same on my RR - rotor was welded to the shaft and come off in pieces!!!

My mate used a pre EFI dissey repair kit - LR does not sell a repair kit for the EFI ones!!!

The repair kit cost about $10 and has all the parts to rebuild it.

HTH

Good luck

LRH

[MacMan]

Thanks guys - at least I'll sleep tonight now! :?

It was a bit of a fnckoff to find the rotor button stuck on a rusty shaft - I ALWAYS used to put a smidge of assembly antiseize or oil on my old cars when replacing the rotors. Oh well, ***** happens.

Where does one find a dizzy repair kit with the circlip if LR don't make one for the Lucas 35DLM8? Do I have to track one down from Lucas?

(I'll be taking photos all the way through this so watch my gallery space for the fun and games...)

[LRHybrid100]

think the parts I used were from RTC5971 DISTRIBUTOR SMALL PARTS KIT - ROVER V8 but the list price says $99.94 - dont remember paying anything near this price.

HTH

LRH

[Rovernaut]

If you still have problems,
Performance Ignitions in Nunawading can do good stuff.
They also do change over Vacuum advances Cheap! and really know their stuff.
They can repair just about everything.

Performance Ignition Services
47 / 41-49 Norcal Road,
NANAWADING, VIC 3131

Phone: (03) 9872-3644
Fax: (03) 9873-2646

[MacMan]

You guys are champions!

FYI, in daylight it was much easier to see everything - no surprises there. I pondered on how to acertain the absolute TDC on cylinder #1, since I couldn't reliably use the rotor position as a reference with 90 degrees of free rotation! A mate of mine came up with the obvious choice - a compression tester in cylinder #1. I was in the process of checking it by rotating the crank with a 24mm socket on the crank nut, and all of a sudden the rotor dropped into its correct position +/- about 3 degrees. I could feel definite metal to metal contact on the shaft at the stops, and just to be sure I rotated the crank and had Shay, my gorgeous garage assistant (the Girlie) check the compression guage. After 3 rotations and it was spot on I decided to take a punt and try starting it. It started as normal and ran smooth as normal. Now that the thing will run, I can a) park it somewhere sensible to work on it, and style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif chase up the parts required for the repair and c) take the easy way out and mark the correct location of the rotor and dissy timing at TDC for cylinder 1 for when I have the parts in hand.

I still can't visualise where the join in the shaft is. It will still lift up the 5mm it shouldn't have as play, so there is definitely a problem somewhere. However, the shaft is sufficiently engaged to time properly so it SHOULD all come out in one piece. I will make some calls tomorrow, but it takes the pressure off for a while.

If anyone can tell/explain to me where the join in the distributor shaft is I would be most interested.

Cheers,

Mike

[MacMan]

Well the job is done, and you can all see what happened in my Gallery at http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_album...=view_album.php (http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_albumName=3-9i-distibutor-repair&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php)

The pic below is the little bastard part.

http://www.aulro.com/albums/3-9i-distibutor-repair/IMG_0857.jpg

Andrew at LR Automotive was very helpful. He basically told me that if you didn't break it this time it would have been next time. 12 years is a long time for a tiny bit of plastic that cops a lot of heat. Their fix it not to fix it! They just reassemble the dissy and get on with it, but care needs to be exercised when removing the rotor from then on. When in doubt, they smash the rotors off rather than stuff up the springs and weights. He offered to reset the springs for me for about $40, but curiousity got the better of me and I factored in the dicking around time off work to get it out to Thomastown and back and this was cheaper. I can safely say I am familiar with the Lucas "engineering" now. That little plastic part as got me stumped as to how it held everything in place. Anyhow, thanks all for the advice. Have a look if you are at all curious.

[PhilipA]

Great pictures and story Mike.
A couple of suggestions to make your life easier
1 mark all the plug leads with the number with tippex or get the little numbered sleeves.
2 mark the dizzy cap and body with tippex adjacent to each other. I know the cap only goes one way , but its surprising how many "one ways " there are.
3 Mark the position of the rotor on the distributor body at No 1 TDC. If I remember about 5 oclock from directly in front.You have to allow about 25MM of clockwise rotation to allow for the gear pitch when putting the distributor back in.

3 Mark the dizzy body and an adjacent bit ( I think it is the waterpump) with Tippex. You need to get exactly above or use the same viewing angle anyway. Then you do not even have to time it, it will be the same when you put it back.
AND put that little drop of oil down the centre every time you change the oil. Whoops forgot! I better go and do it.
Regards Philip A

[DEFENDERZOOK]

hey macman....dont you have a copy of a workshop manual?

it should have a breakdown view of the dizzy with all its components....

[MacMan]

Tony,

The WSM I have doesn't detail the distributor assembly beyond the reluctor and pickup with the associated wiring, so I had no idea where that part was or what it looked like.

I now have everything marked, but when the spring popped off the top part of the shaft was all over the place so I had to start from scratch. At least I am familiar with it all now!

[discowhite]

this is all the landy bible has on the dissy.
http://www.aulro.com/albums/album17/364347227tRjQzS_ph.sized.jpg

all you will need from here is a small punch(for the gear roll pin)
and some small externial circlip pliers for the other end.

cheers phil.

[MacMan]

That's the only diagram that I had, and that's why I took all the photos. I didn't bother taking the lower end apart - with the plastic clip broken there was no further disassembly required. That part still has me stumped as to how it is supposed to last!

[MacMan]

The helpful sorts at Cooper's in Sydney were good enough to gwt in touch with me to let me know they had located the part that I needed. However according to them, the main problem was the absence or breakage of another part I had no idea about. See the following photos for details.

http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_album...=view_photo.php (http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_albumName=3-9i-distibutor-repair&id=clip&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_album...=view_photo.php (http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_albumName=3-9i-distibutor-repair&id=pre_clip&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_album...=view_photo.php (http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_albumName=3-9i-distibutor-repair&id=clip_in_place&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_album...=view_photo.php (http://www.aulro.com/modules.php'set_albumName=3-9i-distibutor-repair&id=clip_in_place_2&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

Thanks again to Anthony at Graeme Cooper Automotive - a spares man who knows his *****.