Thread: Distributor Leads - Out of sequence ??

I would do as said above - pull plug no 1 and check the position of the rotor at TDC.

To confuse things even more.

A few months ago I bought a complete set of V8 leads, all numbered. "Beauty", sez me, "nice job".

I tried to use the numbers & found most of the leads would deffo not reach where they allegedly were supposed to go.

Ripped all the lovely numbers off & ran the leads where they would fit lengthwise.

Somone has put the dizzy back in the wrong position.
Usually the vacuum advance sits at the back of the distributor and the hose entry faces the drivers side. This is on a 3.9 with V belts.

The only problem with the way you have it may be whether you can get the timing correct without hitting some bracket or something. so leave it unless you are a perfectionist. Just be aware it may not be 180 degrees out, you will have to assess that by eye.

But this really is semi? independent of the rotor position and independent of the plug wires position..

If you want it to be all pukka, you have to pull the dizzy to turn it 180 degrees.
1 mark the cap on number 1 and the body with whiteout under number 1, and put mark 180 degrees on the body.
2 mark the dizzy at the base where the cinch bolt is, and on the block as near as possible. Put another mark at 180degrees on the dizzy body
3 mark the body where the rotor is pointing. Put a mark 180degrees from this mark.
4 pull out the dizzy. Mark the body where the rotor is now pointing , as there is a skew gear on the rotor which turns it about 30 degrees as you pull it out.

4 put the dizzy back in at 180 degrees, starting with the rotor pointing to the last mark, checking that it points to the first mark once in.
5 line up the dizzy with the mark on the block. This is your ignition timing.
6 put the cap back on with the marks aligned.
Regards Philip A

Fwiw, my vaccy advance faces the radiator with the small vacuum hose connection to the throttle body directly to the front.

There you go then. The manual is probably for a v belt car and the multi rib belt layout is different. It makes no difference where it sits as long as the advance doesn't hit anything within a normal static timing range.
Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by cafaas

These 2 diagrams in section 86 of the workshop manual appear to contradict each other !!

I have my leads connected as per the diagram on the top of the page.
- but the bottom diagram shows the distributor with the vacuum in the opposite the position I have mine.

My vaccum faces towards the radiator/coil - not towards the engine !!!!

Originally Posted by PhilipA

There you go then. The manual is probably for a v belt car and the multi rib belt layout is different. It makes no difference where it sits as long as the advance doesn't hit anything within a normal static timing range.
Regards Philip A

This brings back some painful memories.
Ohhhhh the pain.........the pain

I went through this not long ago on here and over the phone with Tank. When I got new leads I pulled the distributor. I tried to align the vac advance assembly with the diagram in the book. I can assure you the pic is not how a 3.9 with serpentine belt should be. If your vac advance unit is on the front passenger side then that is how it should be. It is also the only way it will fit.

This is what I learnt when I did it.
Fit the distributor so you get a full swing without it hitting things.
Get the no.1 piston Top Dead Centre (compression stroke)
Line up the TDC mark on the crank pulley.
Fit the coil lead and a spark plug lead to the position that the rotor button is pointing to and connect it to an old spark plug
Turn key to 'ON' position
Earth the spark plug while advancing/retarding the distributor and tighten the lock bolt when it sparks to hold the distributor in the position it sparked. This should be 0 degress TDC.
Fit all the spark plug leads in the firing order going from your new no.1 position.

This should see your car start.

Did I get it right Tank?

It's fixed !!! It was just the leads were not in the correct order.

I am now assured the diagrams in the Workshop Manual "DOES NOT" show the correct view of the leads from the dizzy cap to the plugs for a 1996 V8i 3.9 as per Australian specs.

The misleading bit is there are '2' pictures which do not correspond to each other !!!!!

All I was doing was replacing plugs and leads.
I was not changing my dizzy !! so didn't have to touch anything regards to aligning the timing/settings.

It pays to take a photo (a clear one) of each lead going from the dizzy going to each plug.

Once leads were back in the correct order (ie, on the dizzy in the correct sequence/direction) it started like new.

Originally Posted by cafaas

It's fixed !!! It was just the leads were not in the correct order.

I am now assured the diagrams in the Workshop Manual "DOES NOT" show the correct view of the leads from the dizzy cap to the plugs for a 1996 V8i 3.9 as per Australian specs.

The misleading bit is there are '2' pictures which do not correspond to each other !!!!!

All I was doing was replacing plugs and leads.
I was not changing my dizzy !! so didn't have to touch anything regards to aligning the timing/settings.

It pays to take a photo (a clear one) of each lead going from the dizzy going to each plug.

Once leads were back in the correct order (ie, on the dizzy in the correct sequence/direction) it started like new.

Great to hear - so what is the 'correct' view - can you draw something up or take a picture