electrical and ignition Follow The Bouncing (Timing) Ball

[RAS-2002]

My 1972 2002 just doesn’t want to idle or run smoothly.  She runs, but it’s sounds like it’s misfiring.  Fresh gas. New points, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, condesor, coil, fuel filter.  Plugs and points are correctly gapped, and the wires to the cap and plugs are all hooked up correctly 1-3-4-2.  So before I start the rebuild of the Solex 2bbl 32/32 DIDTA carb it, I first adjusted the valves (not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be), then set the points, and went to adjust the timing.  I disconnected the vacuum line from the dizzy, had it idling at around 1500rpm, hooked up my timing light, put the sensor on plug-1 wire and looked down into the hole at the ball. Trouble was, the ball seems to be bouncing all over the place.  I thought it should be stationary.  Anybody have a clue as to what’s going on? Faulty dizzy?  As usual, I’m at a loss.  Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

 

 

[Mark92131]

Too much "play/wobble" in your distributor shaft will cause the timing to bounce around.  You can have your distributor rebuilt or you can purchase a nice new one from Ireland Engineering or Blunt.

 

Mark92131

[ShakeyC]

Is it an adjustable timing light or static?

 

I would suggest getting cyl 1 to TDC by hand with suitable sized socket and ratchet, get the ball bearing into centre of hole and mark it with white tyre pen through the hole or dap of white paint on a thin brush.

 

If your timing light has unadjuable time set it to min then gradually increase until ball/white mark flickers around centre of the hole and your done.

 

Alternatively you can also do it from front of engine from the crank pulley there is a needle protuding timing cover with normally a rusted spot on the crank pulley have feel around pulley. Again dab white mark on the pully and tip of needle and aim your timing gun at that.

 

Unsteady RPM and fractured HT leads will also make it jump around and use your ears to fine tune it. Dont get caught up on trying to get the ball to be absolutely on the mark a little flickering around the mark is normal.

[Dev02]

Mine did this too. The ball would sit 'around' where it should be, but still bounce out. I drove it a few times and wasn't happy. Then I did it by ear and she runs great. I have a very nice, fully adjustable light, and a nice white mark on the ball, it just kept moving around.

[C02]

As a point of reference, it would be interesting to have someone with megasquirt crankshaft-based timing report what a timing light pointed down at the timing ball shows (to see if there is any wavering at all). Of course this would require a megasquirt or megajolt that bypasses the distributor to fire the cylinder 1 plug. 

[jimk]

Rock solid with a Haltech on a 60-2 crank position wheel.  LS-1 coil per plug.    The crank position timing verification will not move on a good EFI system.  Set to zero timing and watch the TDC mark.

[kbmb02]

I would suggest getting cyl 1 to TDC by hand with suitable sized socket and ratchet, get the ball bearing into centre of hole and mark it with white tyre pen through the hole or dap of white paint on a thin brush.

 

Just a clarification on the above: At TDC, the timing indicator ball will not be visible through the hole... but, rather, the "TO" mark with horizontal line will be visible (if the ball IS showing when the engine is at TDC, something is quite screwy). -KB

[ShakeyC]

Indeed i should have wrote it clearer as in getting cyl1 to TDC helps finding where the balls located

[Stevenc22]

Did you plug the vacuum line you disconnected?

[Hans]

AS suggested above, if you have a timing pin on the front of the engine, you may find it easier to see the mark there. You'd need to paint on a new mark on the pulley. Bouncing ball means erratic engine. Could be ignition related - how old are the plug wires? I had a bad set that took me a while to track down. There is a school of thought that supports setting max advance, which if memory serves, means getting full advance (33 deg or so) by 3000 rpm.

[RAS-2002]

Did you plug the vacuum line you disconnected?

Yes, I plugged the vaccum line. But I just discovered last night another prob: the vacuum unit on my dizzy is shot. I have a working spare vacuum, which I'll replace soon. Gee, the fun never ends, does it?

Thanks,

Bob

[RAS-2002]

AS suggested above, if you have a timing pin on the front of the engine, you may find it easier to see the mark there. You'd need to paint on a new mark on the pulley. Bouncing ball means erratic engine. Could be ignition related - how old are the plug wires? I had a bad set that took me a while to track down. There is a school of thought that supports setting max advance, which if memory serves, means getting full advance (33 deg or so) by 3000 rpm.

Plug wires (and plugs, cap, rotor, points, condensor, coil, fuel filter) are all new. I'll keep 'plugging away' till I find the source of the prob. I'll try swapping out the brand-new wires with another set of new wires. Who knows? That might be it. My thanks to all for your excellent advice(s).

Best, Bob

[Buckeye]

What is dwell meter is reading when engine running?

Try to set it for 60 deg. On mine, I had to set the gap for 0.014" to achieve 60 deg dwell angle. Then all similar issues that you mentioned we solved on my car

[bnam]

I switched to hot spark.  After going thru points and condensers trying to get dwell right -- and even when I did, there was still some unevenness.  But, with hotspark, no prob.  Idles steadily at 850 even.

[mudchemist]

Just finished fixing the same problem tonight. Everything was new as i rebuilt the motor.

Fixed most of the jumpiness by using the conductive grease that came with the cap/rotor. Since Ken is the only one who knows how long ago i built the motor, we'll just say i found the grease in the box days later rather than zooming around with a new motor that wasnt working right for an extended period of time (Felt smooth over 4k)

Fixed the rest by replacing the "new" rotor when a chunk of the notch fell out. Bad casting wiggling in there.

Good luck. Hope your problem is this simple...or more complex should you not want a proud moment like myself.