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After I first converted to the civi ignition, I had a break down that turned out to be the distributor loosening/jumping on me. I fixed it without issue and I chalked it up to my not tightening the pinch enough. Well, it happened again, except I didn't break down. The symptoms were obvious and I fixed it again today. Is this normal? Well, I know it isn't normal, but have others experienced this? This time when I adjusted the timing and tightened it down, I loosened, adjusted and tightened down the single bolt that holds the pinch clamp itself, then tightened the pinch bolt. Is the pinch supposed to have a nut on the one side? Should I blue locktite this on? I marked it with a sharpie to see if it moves again.

Kinda stumped.

If the clamp seems tight , but with a bit of force you can turn the distributor. What you have is a worn washer and clamp that is allowing the bolt to push up against the engine block making you think it is tight on the distributor shaft.
Just pull the distributor braket bolt, put a new flat washer and new lock washer on and your problem will be fixed

westernair wrote:If the clamp seems tight , but with a bit of force you can turn the distributor. What you have is a worn washer and clamp that is allowing the bolt to push up against the engine block making you think it is tight on the distributor shaft.
Just pull the distributor braket bolt, put a new flat washer and new lock washer on and your problem will be fixed

I think that is exactly it! The bolt is pushing up against the block.

I had a similar problem where my distributor would shift over time and my timing would be off. Eventually it got bad enough that the distributor popped up a fraction of an inch and no longer engaged the drive gear. The problem was that the bracket had stretched. Grind the bracket where it pinches so it tightens securely on the distributor before the bolt bottoms out.

ccalingaert wrote:I had a similar problem where my distributor would shift over time and my timing would be off. Eventually it got bad enough that the distributor popped up a fraction of an inch and no longer engaged the drive gear. The problem was that the bracket had stretched. Grind the bracket where it pinches so it tightens securely on the distributor before the bolt bottoms out.

I believe that happened the first time, because I actually opened the dizzy and found that the rotor was not pointing to #1 plug when I positioned it at TDC. I had to lift and drop it and that fixed it then.

Thanks for the tip!

Okay, so I trimmed the lock ring by about 2mm, as it had stretched, and that helped a lot. I also added a lock washer. Now, when I removed the dizzy to get at the ring, I noticed some very obvious wear on the "teeth" at the bottom of the shaft. There is still enough meat left on each toot, but you can see the wear. Is this something to be concerned about?

Well it is probably still OK but if you want to fix it correctly, find a 009 Basch distributor used on a VW motor (cheap should cost about $50 or less and replace the bottom piece as they are the same. Pay special attention to the dributor as you take it appart as it has to go back the same way. When you have it appart analy clean everything inside and lighty re-grease it as you put it back together.
I see on the Austria ebay site there is one for $ale if you want to spend the cash and just replace it.

westernair wrote:Well it is probably still OK but if you want to fix it correctly, find a 009 Basch distributor used on a VW motor (cheap should cost about $50 or less and replace the bottom piece as they are the same. Pay special attention to the dributor as you take it appart as it has to go back the same way. When you have it appart analy clean everything inside and lighty re-grease it as you put it back together.
I see on the Austria ebay site there is one for $ale if you want to spend the cash and just replace it.

Thanks Shawn!

Another winter project!!

Another quick question, is the bottom piece supposed to move around? Seemed loose.

Yes it should be a bit loose.

I haven't gotten to this yet, but I was wondering if those worn tabs could be fixed with some welds? If a small bead filled the worn groove then filed flush, could that work?

Sure that will work however it isnt the best practise...I would do it on a pinch but in the back of my mind there would always be that nagging feeling that this part is going to fail miles away from any sort of help...on the trail or the backwoods.

Distributors are delicately balanced. I would fear my welds would mess this up.

I'd definitely give the weld idea a shot. The distributor is very lightly loaded and only turns at half of engine RPM. I'd expect it will work just fine for a very long time.

Maybe want to call Glenn ring a call before doing any welding...

http://www.glenn-ring.com/bosch/

westernair wrote:Maybe want to call Glenn ring a call before doing any welding...

http://www.glenn-ring.com/bosch/

Thanks Shawn! I found some pics that show how to remove the drive without complete dissasembly. Picking up a used dizzy for cheap, with a good drive unit, should suffice. I also Emailed Glen to see if he sells just those parts.