I have had the same problem with the distributor dog not engaging the
drive. It happened to me after I bought a new rebuilt distributor for
my '70 TR6 from TRF. There was a definite difference from my old
distributor drive dog position to the new one, even though they were the
same part number. I had to machine a new hole 90 degrees off from the
original hole through both the distributor shaft and drive dog to set
the drive dog a little lower. Shim washers are then required to take up
the space between the drive dog and the distributor housing. Don't try
this at home, I had access to a very nice mill and it was still tricky.
Lonn Howard
'70 TR6 -mine
'71 TR6 -in my garage
'70 MGB GT -ours
'89 Saab Turbo Convertible -hers
"We are but temporary custodians with an obligation of preservation."
----- Original Message -----
From: scott suhring <suhring@lancnews.infi.net>
To: Power British Performance Parts, Inc. <britcars@powerbritish.com>
Cc: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 1999 7:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Distributor Help]
>
> Brian:
>
> You are the only one currently responding to my follow up post
> so I hope you don't mind me turning back to you.
>
> Here is what I believe is going on.
>
> I checked the rotor by cranking the ignition and it turned
> counter clockwise. I never noticed that when I turned the
> engine by hand to check points I was actually turning it
> in the wrong direction...one leason learned today.
>
> Put all back and still couldn't get it to fully turn over.
> Almost but not quite. Went back and checked the rotor
> and turned the ignition and the rotor didin't turn. Re-checked
> the base of the distributor to make sure siting flush
> against the clamping plate. Loosened clamping pate and
> reset the distributor (BTW, does it matter the position
> of the rotor when engaging the drive dog? You can put it into
> the slots so the rotor is either way, being 180 degrees from
> the previous position of the drive dog going in the slot. I
> have tried it in both positions just to be safe).
>
> What appears to be happening after a few tries of this cycle
> is the drive dog is slipping up out of the slots. I beleive this
> because on some tries the rotor turned fine and then I'd try again
> and it wouldn't turn. If I try turning the rotor by hand it just
> spins freely. If I put downward preasure while turning the
> rotor it will then match the slots and engage, at which point
> it won't turn by hand. Try cranking the ignition and it spins
> correctly but go back and try again it diesn't spin.
>
> Seems to me again, that the drive dog is somehow disengaging
> from the slots, thus not getting any spark to the compression
> chamber to turn the engine over???
>
> Any help would be much appreciated.
>
> Scott Suhring
> Elizabethtown, PA
> '70 TR6
>
>
> Power British Performance Parts, Inc. wrote:
>
> > Scott,
> >
> > Could it be that the drive dog wasn't quite engaged fully after you
checked it? Be sure the
> > base of the distributor is fully home against the pinch bolt clamp
with no gap in between.
> >
> > If all checks out there, leave the cap off the distributor, reach
inside and crank the
> > engine with the key. Watch the rotor. It should spin
counterclockwise when viewed from
> > above. I just checked one I have on the shelf and the arrow does
point in the
> > counterclockwise direction, but that's no guarantee your's is the
same. The simple check is
> > to watch it for counterclockwise rotation.
> >
> > If that all works, look at the connections on the coil. You should
have a white/black
> > tracer from the dist to the coil negative terminal and a solid white
from the harness to the
> > coil positive. If all of that wiring is correct, remove the white
wire from the coil
> > positive and run a jumper directly from the battery positive to the
coil positive and try to
> > start the car (use alligator clips for the jumper and attempt to
start it immediately after
> > hooking the jumper wire - if left on for a few minutes, it can burn
out the coil).
> >
> > Should the car run fine with the jumper but not with the white wire
from the harness, then
> > you need to trace it back to the ignition switch. Under the dash
near the key there is a
> > bundle of a few white wires sticking out of the harness about 3".
They are all pigtailed
> > together. That is the origin of the white wire that runs to the
coil. Perhaps you have a
> > short somewhere in there.
> >
> > Good luck!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Brian Schlorff '61 TR-4 '64 TR-4 '72 TR-6 '79 Spit
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Power British Check out Power
British
> > 371 E. Main St. on the 'net!
> > Norristown, PA 19401
> > (610) 270-0505 http://www.powerbritish.com/~britcars
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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