Team Camaro Tech banner

Points dist question

773 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  bonecrusher67conv 
#1 ·
What is the best way to tell if your points ignition system is cranking out enough voltage. My plugs seem to "load up" enough to drop my idle from 700/750 down to 550/600 after maybe 5-10 hours of weekend cruising/city/hwy driving. Cleaning and regapping the plugs gets everything back to normal for a few more hours but then back down to 550/600 RPM. This has been a problem for a while now and figure its either the ignition or carb (jets?). Mild 327, recurved points dist, Holley 650 spreadbore dp. Open to suggestions.
john

------------------
john
If it ain't broke, fix it till it is.
 
#2 ·
Sounds like you are running too rich.

Points are just gating or providing a path for your 12Volt resistive wire to ground when closed. When the points are open then the high voltage coil that takes the 12V DC and boosts it up to 20,000volts DC jumps the spark gap to ground and fires the fuel-air mixture. Heck, I've run a car 60 miles just on a battery to provide spark after my voltage regulator took a dump.

Idle mixture and carb jetting would be the first path to investigate. Timing retarded could add to the problem. Timing too far advanced causes a lean burn usually and that would be indicated by white crusties on your plugs. Vacuum leaks too could be causing your idle problem if the idle is different between hot and cold engine conditions. Suck on a small diameter hose connected to your distributors vacuum advance device and see if the diaphagm is intact, that could cause a vacuum leak. The recurving of your distributor meant changing the mechanical advance springs under the distributor rotor, You could check that both springs are present on that item or maybe go back to the old springs. At least, since your plugs are not being fouled by oil, then you can rule out bad valve stem seals.



[This message has been edited by bonecrusher67conv (edited 01-28-2002).]
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top