1986 spider engine running very badly: update+distributor

["Damien Gaboury" <dgaboury@xxxxxxx>]

Update:



Day X+1: I found that the distributor has shot bushing, so the rotor moves
side by side along its axis by about 1 cm. There are evidences of physical
contacts between the rotor and the distributor cap.



Day X+2: I realized that the rotor was out of phase with the cylinder one at
TDC. In fact, with the physical contact of the rotor, the casing have rotated.
I removed the distributor and readjusted the timing. The engine idled
perfectly and ran up to 4000 rpm without problem, so I finally found the
problem.



Day X+3: With the helpful comments John Fielding, list fellow, I had my
distributor rebushed by the machinist at the University. The upper busching
was totally shot and replaced with a custom made "phosphor bronze" unit.
Otherwise, I had to wait for 10 to 12 days in order to gets a rebuilt unit
directly from Bosch in Germany at very expansive cost, or because I am
Canadian, had to wait at least one week (custom-related delay) to get a new
unit from US-based Alfa part seller.



Thanks a lot to all which helped me to track my problem.
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided