While taking my distributor apart a few weeks ago (it's an 85 4cyl), I noticed that one of the "arms" that (I guess they are for spark transfer? I don't know) but one of them was touching one of the things when it was turning. Not too much, but enough to notice some drag. Anyways, I bent it back, but what problems could that have caused?

Johnny,
You are going to have to be a little more descriptive if you want someone to answer the question. I could tell you that the thing that touched the watchamacallit and caused it to do whatever it did had nothing to do with what you thought it might have done, but I can't tell from what you told me.

It sounds like you are talking about the rotor and the pickup contacts on the distributor cap... and they are supposed to be touching.... not a lot... just enough to make electrical contact. But that is just a guess because I'm not sure what you are talking about.

After reading his description several times I think he means the vanes of the wheel that the pickup coil detects. If it was scraping something else then it should be straightened to not do that. I know he can't mean the rotor hitting the copper conductors in the cap because he would not be able to see if it was hitting.

I know exactly what your talking about. I had the same problem when I first got my car. At the time I didnt know much about the car so I stupidly took it to the dealership, they said it needed a new distributor and put one in. I dont know the name for the things your talking about, but I do know the things your talking about. I would tend to think they could be straightened and work fine.

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Sean's Fiero Page
Sean Heberly
Silver 86 GT 2.8 Auto
Going on to 3.4 in Jan.
"If you smoke after sex, you're doing it way to fast".

Well, I did straighten it, I jsut wanted to know what problems it could cause when it wasn't straight? Not firing a cylinder? (hopefully)

The lugs on the rotating magnet can be straightened and used. They should almost touch the pole piece (the stationary part with the 4 tangs sticking up), but not actually touch.

When you rotate the distributor, I think all 4 of the lugs on the magnet should index (line up) with all 4 stationary tangs at the same time.

When the lugs on the magnet go past the tangs on the pole piece, it generates a signal in the pickup coil, which triggers the basic spark timing ("basic" meaning: before the ECM does its thing to it). As long as those 4 pairs index every ninety degrees of distributor rotation, you're okay.

[This message has been edited by StuGood (edited 11-20-2000).]