[DeTomaso] Help! RESOLVED! Interesting story

Christopher Kimball chrisvkimball at msn.com
Sun Dec 12 22:07:39 EST 2010


Thank you for the help--as it turns out, Doug Braun once again came to the rescue by calling me (I just returned from the garage and discovered these emails).

Doug told me the same thing that Asa Jay did, but he went on to say that since my MSD box had no flashing LED I should check a plug to see if it sparks.

I checked the distributor first, and it was set up correctly.  I checked the plug and -- no spark!

Doug also told me, if the plug was sparkless, to check the power to the MSD box, so I took a long pin and put it down the end of the wire that I had connected to the hot side of the solenoid.  There was a flash, and I instantly knew what had happened.  The crimp on the ring connector must have corroded.  I recrimped it, and presto--spark!

The car now runs great (although the best idle is where the original mark it, 38 degrees), although it's pouring rain, so I can't drive it yet.

This problem, which is now fixed, may account for a whole host of other issues--like the intermittent starting, the sudden quitting of the engine (which I solved at the time by wiggling the wires back there, obviously reconnecting the corroded connection).

All in all, pretty satisfying.  I guess I won't be sending anything to Craig's list after all...!

Thanks to all the POCA folks for once again seeing me through my frustration.

Sincerely,

Chris
Still PNW president

> Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:24:55 -0800
> From: asajay at asajay.com
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Help!
> 
> Chris,
> 
> First off, don't panic.  You've positioned your timing in such a way 
> that it's fighting the engine rotating.  Just take a deep breath and 
> let's start over.
> 
> Don't pay -any- attention to any pre-existing marks on the distributor, 
> on the housing, on the block or any other place at or near the 
> distributor that you -think- may have been used to indicate number 1.
> 
> Now, find top dead center on number one cylinder.
> Number one cylinder is the forward-most cylinder on the passenger side.  
> You want the compression stroke, we've talked about that recently so you 
> should know how to find it.  It should be marked relatively close on the 
> crankshaft damper.  Remember the crank will point to TDC -twice-, only 
> one of them is the compressions stroke.
> 
> Okay you got number one cylinder near the top of the bore on the 
> compression stroke.  Next, let's look at your distributor.
> 
> Okay at this point people will argue over what's best, but here is the 
> bottom line....
> It -doesn't- matter exactly where the rotor is pointing.  What matters, 
> is that the rotor is at a post in the distributor cap that has the 
> number one cylinder plug wire attached.  That one has to fire when the 
> piston is near the top of the compression stroke.
> 
> So, if the rotor is pointing to cylinder 8, I don't really care, as long 
> as you can see exactly where the rotor tip is, -that- is where number 1 
> is going to fire.  Got it?  Okay, good.
> 
> Now, placing the cap on the distributor, is the rotor positioned so that 
> number one cylinder is at the tip of the rotor?  If yes, then proceed 
> counterclockwise around the cap and verify the firing order, 
> 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
> 
> Now that you have the firing order set properly and you know the rotor 
> is at number one on the compression stroke, fire it up.  Then you'll 
> have to fine tune the timing by gently turning the distributor one way, 
> then the other to get the proper timing.
> 
> I hope this makes sense.  If not, please ask questions.
> 
> Asa Jay
> 
> Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
> &  Shelley Marie
> Spokane, WA
> ******************************
> http://www.racingagainstautism.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
> 
> 
> On 12/12/2010 13:27, Christopher Kimball wrote:
> > Well, this is what I get for trying to work on a Pantera myself...
> >
> > The car timing, as you might recall, was strange, and there seemed to be a slight "missing" when it was running well (at 38 degrees instead of the recommended 16 degrees).  It was postulated that it might be the spark plugs, so I bought new ones (Taylor) and installed them.
> >
> > While I was at it, I noticed that with the damper at tdc, the rotor's contact was actually more between #1 and the next cylinder over, instead of pointing directly at #1.  The distributor had a small mark on it, indicating (I think) the correct position for the distributor to be when checking these things.
> >
> > Remembering that someone suggested the distributor might be out of place by one gear, I decided to move it over one position so that the contact would line up with the #1 cylinder (the base of the distributor was marked so with the cap off I know where the #1 position is when the distributor is rotated in the correct position).
> >
> > When I tried to start it, the car chugged in a very strange way, but wouldn't start.
> >
> > I assumed I had moved the distributor over too far, so I moved it again, and it seems to be dead on pointing at the #1 cylinder, but now the car won't start at all.  It just turns over and over.  I checked the MSD box, and I think the LED is supposed to flash when trying to start the car, but the LED did not come on at all.
> >
> > Did I destroy my MSD box, and if so, how?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Chris
> >   		 	   		
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