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too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:06 pm
by boeing7873
I am timing the pinz and the only way to get good power below 1800 rpm is to advance it to the point where at high rpms I get pre-ignition.... as if the advance was either not opening soon enough, or advancing too much...
I took the distributor apart and everything is clean and smooth in the interior.
Also, water kills my ignition.. how do I check for that vaccuum valve in the line elbow?
Thank you,
Jeronimo

Re: too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:13 pm
by Jimm391730
One of you advance springs may have rusted and broke, so it advances too soon. You need to pull the dizzy and remove the shaft as the springs are underneath. While the stock setup was pretty waterproof, most civi conversions are not very well protected. The "vacuum" line had just a tiny pinhole to barely move air. In the sealed stock configuration this made sense as it would slowly evacuate air and draw oil up the shaft. Vacuum is useless beyond that design. Get a SSI if you want water resistance; no high voltage is exposed to water beyond the spark plug wire boots.

Re: too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:39 pm
by audiocontr
I used a small metal ball valve as my "restrictor". It took some time to find the proper setting... too low and moisture condensed within the cap. Too high and it caused the RPMs to rise. My best advice is just slightly opened

Re: too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 4:17 pm
by boeing7873
Jim, if I could afford the SSI, I would do it. Just too expensive.
I know I can waterproof the civi ignition, just need to figure out why it is not working ok with the original distributor. I have a friend with a Pinz, I will swap dizzies one of these days.
Based on what I experience, the problem would be the opposite, the weights open too late or too much. Again, it is smooth and clean inside...
Regarding the vacuum line, maybe an aquarium aireator valve will do the trick!

Re: too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 5:22 pm
by audiocontr
Watch out for heat melting plastic restrictions

Re: too much centrifugal advance?

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 12:05 am
by Jimm391730
Based on what I experience, the problem would be the opposite, the weights open too late or too much.
It is not unusual to find the Pinz dizzy with the weights frozen in place, too. Rust can cause either to happen - stuck weights, or rusted through springs.