Distributor rebuild--Worth it?

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vtcruiser60

vtcruiser60

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I have heard mixed reviews on rebuilding a distributor. In your experiences, is it worth having the arc tested and potentially rebuilt. I am running a 84FJ60...but the dizzy's seem mainly the same for the 40's and 55's.
 
The answer is: It depends. ;)

If the distributor is working properly, then no, a rebuild isn't going to accomplish anything.

OTOH if the vac advance is leaking or stuck, if the stop pin is wacked, if the curve is not matched to the engine, then a rebuild is a good idea.

The dizzys are all the same for 81-87 FJ40 & FJ60, USA-spec. Earlier dizzys have different curves because of the different cylinder head design.
 
FWIW, 8/80+ dizzys seem to go for $50-75 used and make for a SWEET upgrade to a earlier Cruiser, but need the matching coil/ignitor and pushrod side cover.
 
"OTOH if the vac advance is leaking or stuck, if the stop pin is wacked, if the curve is not matched to the engine, then a rebuild is a good idea."

If the engine has had all of the smog stuff removed and the original distributor is still used (Mine's a 77 if that matters) would "...curve is not matched to the engine..." apply? Vacuum advance (retard?) is currently hooked up to ported vacuum at the base of the carb.
 
Jim....in your opinion...at what point can one expect the arc/curve to deviate with these land cruiser dizzy's. Mine has 220k on it and a brand new cap...but I don't know how to trouble shoot beyond the basics.

We all talk about rebuilding carbs and motors, but rules of thumb for the dizzy is hard to come by. You mentioned a whacked stop pin and mismatched curve...but how do I know if these things are problems?

I always like when you chime in...it is like zeus himself speaking....
 
Yes, the stock curve is calibrated for EGR. Now that the EGR is gone, the cylinder pressure is much higher, so less advance is needed.

The stock 77 distributor is vac advance, :)
though there is a good chance it is no longer functional. :crybaby:

GetsUThere said:
"OTOH if the vac advance is leaking or stuck, if the stop pin is wacked, if the curve is not matched to the engine, then a rebuild is a good idea."

If the engine has had all of the smog stuff removed and the original distributor is still used (Mine's a 77 if that matters) would "...curve is not matched to the engine..." apply? Vacuum advance (retard?) is currently hooked up to ported vacuum at the base of the carb.
Click to expand...
 
My name is Zeus and I'm a Cruiser addict. :rolleyes:

The FJ60 distributors will run a long time. The only problems they develop is a leaky vac advancer and the aforementioned stop pin bushing.

The stop pin is down inside the distributor, under the breaker plate. It is supposed to have a plastic bushing around it. The governor (advance mechanism) slot rests against the stop pin at idle. As the revs increase, the governor moves off the pin until the other side of the slot contacts the pin, about 10.5 degrees later. The plastic bushing tends to crumble, exposing the much smaller steel core of the stop pin. Now the rest angle is much retarded, and the max governor angle is more advanced. This means the distributor which already had a greater than ideal advance curve has about 6 more degrees than stock.

You can see the stop pin without disassembling the dist. by looking through the inspection window in the breaker plate. Chances are it will be missing the plastic bushing, because 90% of them are after 10 years in service.

In summary, you'll know if the stop pin is a problem by either:
1. Visual inspection
2. Live testing w/ advance timing light
3. testing on the distributor machine.

You'll know if the vac advancer is a problem by:
1. live testing w/ vac pump on engine
2. static testing w/ vac pump & visual inspection

You'll know if the advance curve is mismatched to the engine's requirements:
1. by setting to the best performance at peak torque (1800-2200rpm) and then finding idle timing too advanced or retarded.

HTH

vtcruiser60 said:
Jim....in your opinion...at what point can one expect the arc/curve to deviate with these land cruiser dizzy's. Mine has 220k on it and a brand new cap...but I don't know how to trouble shoot beyond the basics.

We all talk about rebuilding carbs and motors, but rules of thumb for the dizzy is hard to come by. You mentioned a whacked stop pin and mismatched curve...but how do I know if these things are problems?

I always like when you chime in...it is like zeus himself speaking....
Click to expand...
 
You might also want to consider putting a Petronix Igniter into the distributor. It uses a hall-effect magnetic pickup and eliminates the points completely. Fortunately, it doesn't require making any permanent changes to the distributor itself so you can carry a set of points in case the electronic gizmo fails, which is unlikely.


One dead ringer that you are having some problems with your distributor is that you will see several or a bouncing timing mark when looking at th4 flywheel with a timing light.
 
Doug_S said:
Fortunately, it doesn't require making any permanent changes to the distributor itself so you can carry a set of points in case the electronic gizmo fails, which is unlikely.
Click to expand...

True enough Doug, and it HAS happened to me! Glad I kept the points as backup!

One dead ringer that you are having some problems with your distributor is that you will see several or a bouncing timing mark when looking at th4 flywheel with a timing light.[/QUOTE]

Also true, and prolly the nicest part of the Pertronix, is the lack of spark bounce. THe tradeoff of weaker spark is acceptable from a maintance-free perspective, but less than satisfactory from a performance standpoint. That is why I run one in the 45lwb, but not in Ruftoys.
 
FJ40Jim said:
You'll know if the advance curve is mismatched to the engine's requirements:
1. by setting to the best performance at peak torque (1800-2200rpm) and then finding idle timing too advanced or retarded.

HTH
Click to expand...

Based on this test, pretty much every distributor ON EARTH will fail, as all the factories set up their dizzies with emissions-based compromises.

Fortunately for us landcruiser folks, there's a little shop in OH that can help with our dizzies. ;) :cheers:
 
65swb45 said:
Based on this test, pretty much every distributor ON EARTH will fail, as all the factories set up their dizzies with emissions-based compromises.
Fortunately for us landcruiser folks, there's a little shop in OH that can help with our dizzies. ;) :cheers:
Click to expand...
Oops, I wasn't trying to scare everybody into getting a distributor recurve. :whoops:

The E-1968 USA distributors and all non-EGR distributors sold for the rest of the world (i.e. Canada) have a decent curve from the factory. SOR and others have sold a fair number of them into the US market.

It's really only those few distributors installed in Cruisers sold in a tiny backwards market called USA that could use recurved. and that is if (as Mark pointed out) the dizzie is smog-compliant and the engine is not. :cheers:
 
Peter,
The stop pin bushing is non-serviceable. :crybaby:

I fabricate them from brass tube, so as to avoid the disintegrating plastic problem in the future. :)

HTH :beer:

peterb said:
Jim
I checked my distributor over the weekend and the bushing you described was missing. Any idea where to get one? Does Toyota still stock them? Can I fab one?
Thanks
Peter
Click to expand...
 
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