Quote:
Originally Posted by JUDGE3
1979 Trans Am 301 engine original HEI distributer.
removed the cap today and the weights and all are crusty as this car sat mostly for 10 years. found the connector to the module barely secured and thought this would be the issue. nope. sprayed some wd40 and cleaned up inside. new cap/rotor/wires/plugs.
using the timing light I noticed it was getting advance but does not appear to be enough as to what im used to. (my 455 with dui has 24 degrees advance at 3,000 rpm.) also when moving the advance weights by hand they seem much stiffer than the dui.
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Remove distributor. Take it completely apart for cleaning and lube. Photo 1--Chevy distributor shown, Pontiac similar.
First Guess: Reluctor/timer core/armature is seizing on the main shaft. Photo 2--Polish shaft, fill groove in main shaft with white grease. Also refresh lube under plastic seal beneath pickup coil, and assure that the distributor housing drilled holes that lube the upper bushing are not plugged with hardened grease.
Verify weights/pivot holes, pivot pins/bushings, springs, and vacuum advance. Many vacuum advance canisters have WAY too much travel, they can be replaced or the existing vacuum advance canister can have it's travel restricted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JUDGE3
I just installed an oem 4 row copper brass radiator in place of the tiny 301 original radiator that was plugged up. it overheated prior on the highway, the big new radiator is masking the problem and at least maintains 220 on the highway now.
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Getting the distributor advance to work properly should help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JUDGE3
I had an old flame thrower module I installed to test. engine would not even start. back to the gm module and started but back to the problem. is the gm module bad?
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The GM module may or may not be "bad". If the engine runs with it, it's worth investigating further...AFTER you've fixed the distributor.