Distributor woes in cold weather

[robin.richard]

Hello,

New issue that just showed up a few days ago. Hopefully someone may have an idea what's going on.

Cold weather finally arrived here in the mid-Atlantic. First few days of driving in cold weather was fine, no issues. Actually it was rather enjoyable. Sub 32 deg. weather. Two days ago my bus started to stall out when coming off the gas / coming to a full stop. Didn't happen all the time, but enough to be a PITA. I had a similar issue years ago and corrected it by installing the required thermostat, cleaning out the heat riser and conducting a proper tune-up on the distributor. Hadn't had the issue since, or anything similar until now.

My first instinct was to check to make sure the thermostat and flaps were working properly, check. The intake manifold cold to the touch, wet but is not frosted so the heat risers are working, check. Pulled the distributor and checked the points. There was some build up, closing the gap closer than .016 so I cleaned the points as best as possible (didn't have replacements), checked the gap, set timing and drove home. It ran OK for a while, but stalled out a few times when coming off the gas. Once I got home I pulled the distributor, replaced points and condenser, and attempted to set timing again. Now the timing light stayed on no matter how far I turned the distributor? Left or right? Looked at the points again to make sure they were opening and closing, check. What could cause this to happen? Something stuck in the distributor itself? Staying advanced?

Next I replaced my stock vacuum distributor with a spare 009. Set timing and the bus is running, but now my gen light (red) will not go off. this weekend I'll check to see if the regulator or generator is bad...I hope not. I had to replace the gen four years ago. Rather expensive repair, but used BOSH. Also replaced the regulator at the same time with BOSH.

What could be causing all this drama?

Here are the engine stats: 1600cc SP with Solex PICT-1 and matching stock vacuum distributor. Thermostat, flaps and all tin installed and working. Pre-heat hooked up.

Any assistance in this will be greatly appreciated.

-Rich
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Drive your bus!

[iamdonquixote]

my first instinct is you may have a vacuum leak . small vacuum leaks go away when the engine warms up in my opinion. Usually manifold leaks. Sounds like you have the choke properly setup, but an easy test would be as soon as it stalls to see if the choke is on. If its not, perhaps adjust it.

[robin.richard]

Thanks for the reply iamdonquixote.

You may be right about the stalling and a vacuum leak however, the vehicle was stalling out when I was going 35-45 MPH and had to quickly slow, for a turning vehicle or stop light. Real PITA in traffic. Once I get it running right I will check for vacuum leaks at the manifold / head connections and base of carb. Could it be a small exhaust leak? Unlikely, but...

My main questions are - what is causing the stock vacuum distributor to not time correctly with new points replaced? In other words, the timing light stays on no matter how far I turn the distributor? And what would cause my Gen light to stay on now that I replaced the stock distributor with a spare 009? All of this happened after I removed the stock distributor to replace the points. Can't figure it out.

-Rich
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Drive your bus!

[BarryL]

[robin.richard]

BarryL,

Thanks for responding.

Tomorrow I'll recheck my stock vacuum distributor. Maybe even put the old points back in just to see if anything changes. I don't think it's the condenser. I replaced the old condencer after I replaced the points, and still no luck.

The regulator is on the rear wheel well. I'll recheck the wires during the day when I can see better.

No, the original issue was not corrected before the other issues came up. The issues listed above were the result of trying to resolve the occasional stalling after deceleration.

I'll work in reverse, trying to resolve each issue before moving to the next.

-Rich
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Drive your bus!

[BarryL]

[Eric&Barb]

Now that you have the old points out, use some sandpaper to flatten them off, just pull/draw the points closed on the sandpaper. You only need to flatten off the high point of the one side. Never sandpaper points in the distributor, the grit is not kind to the distributor inner workings.

Next get a dwell meter and use it in the future to check older worn points in situ. Once a set of points is used they will get pitted and trying to use feeler gauge to reset them is folly.

Look up the vintage "Sears Engine Anylizer" in Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trk...acat=34998

Recently picked up another SEA for our 1963 single cab for a whole $5.00 at an all car swap meet....

Right now have set of points in our 1960 walk thru panel camper conversion that have not needed to be touched for over 30,000 miles now. All because we can test that the points are still in the allowable dwell range.
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[robin.richard]

BarryL,

If you mean a bypass mixture cut-off valve, yes. I'll check the connections again. If I remember when I originally checked it it was connected but a little loose.

Eric&Barb,

That is how I got home from work. I pulled the distributor, removed the points. Used sand paper to flatten out the buildup, and put it back together and returned the distributor in the engine. I did a quick static timing test and drove home. Unfortunately the issue of the stalling was not corrected although it didn't happen every time I decelerated. Once I got home I removed the distributor again, replaced the old points. After that the timing light stayed on when I tried to time the engine. So I removed the distributor again, checking to make sure the points were opening and closing. They were. I replaced the old condenser with a new one and tried to time the distributor/ engine again. No dice, light wouldn't go out no matter how far I turned the distributor. It was at that point that I put in my spare 009. I was able to time the engine correctly and the engine would run, but now the gen light would not go off.

I have a long weekend so I am going to start working in reverse order. Using the advise I have received so far. Correcting the gen light issue first then looking at what may be causing the stalling on deceleration. Then I will put the old points back in my stock distributor, replace the 009 and see if that resolves the timing issue.

By the way, I have one of those cool SEA. Had it for years, but have not used it for a very long time. Here it is:

Thanks guys!

-Rich
_________________
Drive your bus!

[Eric&Barb]

[robin.richard]

Your right Eric&Barb. This one's like a suitcase.

So good news. Weather warmed up and in the daylight I was able to fix all issues...I think. Gen light was fixed whe I discovered the neg wire to generator had broken at the spade connector. Must of happened in the dark while fiddling with the distributor. Fixed now.

Returned old points back into original stock vacuum distributor. No issues, was able to static time to 7.5 BTDC. Will buy more replacements for future, but will run the old ones for a while longer.

Replaced the bypass mixture cut-off valve with one off a spare carb. No issues when driving around today. Weather was warmer though. We are going to have temps in the high teens on Monday so that will be the true test.

Thanks to all that helped. It's amazing what a little sunlight and warmer weather does to help figure things out.

-Rich
_________________
Drive your bus!

[tasb]

Sometimes new points have a corrosion preventive oil applied at the factory that dries out and needs to be removed before the spark from one contact to the other is clean.
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