dead cylinder

[RobertH]

I have a 1972 240Z that starts up and seems to run a little shakey.Took the plug wire off the number 1 cylinder and notice no difference in idle. Replaced coil, plugs, conds, wires, points, etc with no diff. Discovered oil pump and drive shaft were out of phase and not lined up properly by indication marks. Aligned then re-installed the oil pump shaft per service manual..car stiil running on 5 cylinders: cannot time engine with timimg light and have to advance to get it to idle smooth. Also notice spitting light amount of liquid out rear exhaust. number one compression is 130 compared to 170 for number 2. The distributor rotor is pointed a little past number one when marks on crank pully are aligned on TDC.

could this be a blown head gasket or in need of valve job? Or what do you think????

thanks

RobertH

[Bambikiller240]

RobertH:

Take a look at the thread linked below. View the attachments. As you will see there is a difference in how the dist driveshaft alignment is shown in the FSM and other manuals; and what you should set it to get the engine running correctly with a full range of adjustment. This would explain the timing issue you now have.

Distributor Driveshaft Alignment Thread

Did you replace the Distributor cap and rotor as part of your tune up? Since you mentioned every other part, I assume that you did, but thought I'd ask. If so, I have no idea why it could be running on 5 cylinders. Oh, is the #1 spark plug (or any other) "wet" after you run the engine? In short, are you positive it is running on 5 cylinders? The timing could make it shake.

[RobertH]

thanks, Carl..I did replace the dist cap etc..I will check the other again.

thanks

RobertH

[RobertH]

Carl

took the oil pump out again and moved one tooth to position you recommended..could time the car, but only after removing distrib bolt so could advance.. The car sounded fine but no way to hold distrib in place without the bolt. The oil pump is now back in the position per the service manual and cannot time it

I bought this car this way thinking it was only a tune up away from being a great running car. saw some traces of water in oil so think may need a head gasket..what else could make this car run so rough????

thanks

Robert Hudson

[Bambikiller240]

Robert:

I don't know if you are aware, but there are two bolts that can impact the timing of the distributor relative to the crankshaft. I suspect from your description of the timing situation that you encountered this weekend, that one of these bolts is adjusted to it's maximum and locked in place, while you are then required to remove the remaining bolt in order to approach proper timing. I will try to get some pictures for your reference on this matter. Probably will be Monday or Tuesday before I can get them.

Headgasket leaking could certainly cause rough running. 130 is low if all others are near 160-170 What are they all reading). Any sign of water leaking externally (to atmoshere)? Is oil turning into pudding?

Don't give up yet.

[RobertH]

just small traces of water on oil pump gear..could see no evidence of water in oil when I changed oil this weekend. I guess you could tell that i am getting frustrated and wondering that the reason I got such a good deal is because the guy I purchased the car from must have given up trying to figure it out .When I got it come, I noticed that the distributor cap wires were off one, and I thought the guy had installed the wired incorrectly so I moved the wires and then found the oil pump shaft off from description, then removed oil pump..(3 times now) I will do compression check on all this week.

thanks for your help, Carl

Robert

[Bambikiller240]

Hey Robert:

Here is a picture of a distributor with the adjustment points indicated. The adjustment point that most folks use is the one between the distributor and the distributo mounting plate. (the slot shown in the attachment) There is another point on the distributor body that can gain you more adjustment at the slot.

If I'm not explaining this in a way that makes sense, PM to me with any questions and we can take it from there.

The main thing is to be able to get the timing where it needs to be no matter where you have to put the Dist/Oil Pump Driveshaft to get it. It's just nicer to be able to have a range of adjustment and everything else set normally. Minimizes the chances for later errors to be made.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by RobertH

just small traces of water on oil pump gear..could see no evidence of water in oil when I changed oil this weekend.

This could indicate a Timing Cover gasket problem or a hole/crack in the Timing cover itself.