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Do NOT buy a 123ignition distributor.


Rill Cosby

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2 hours ago, Patcon said:

Is there difinitive engine damage? I didnt pick that up in the original post. These engines are pretty robust

Sorry it was not talked about in more detail in the post as this was not the point of the post, but that information was provided in the email. I will make edits. 

I can attest to the strength of these engines as I've been daily driving mine for roughly 7 years. Hell and back, not just city cruising. I did do some refresh work on it at some point but never a problem with the cylinders really.

All I have is the variation of compression numbers before and after install. Low compression in a cylinder which I stated to Zed Head that I think that only leaves a few options.

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Your case would be helped immensely if you could rationally explain how timing problems cause damage that would cause low compression.  That lack of reason is why the 123 guys weren't helpful.  There's no cause-effect.  It might be coincidence.

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12 hours ago, AK260 said:

 

Thank you for sharing your story and for reading. That's funny you share your post because I do recall now reading yours! I could have sworn it was longer than a month ago. Man, time flies.

Also thank you for your well wishes. I plan to get her up and running pretty soon. It's a shame I'll miss vacation but eh. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your unit over there, my friend.

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10 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

Your case would be helped immensely if you could rationally explain how timing problems cause damage that would cause low compression.  That lack of reason is why the 123 guys weren't helpful.  There's no cause-effect.  It might be coincidence.

Again, which I clarified already. 

Will it be awkward? No, not really. I'll share it here and it will be a learning experience for everyone. Mostly me.  I have nothing to prove, my man. I'll be the first one to say I'm wrong (also stated in emails)

That doesn't disregard how customers are treated when there is an issue with their product.

Edited by Rill Cosby
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5 hours ago, zKars said:

Sorry to hear of this unfortunate situation and the engine damage. While you'll never know if the cap failure or timing contributed to the engine failure, it will always leave the lingering doubt about the product, even without the customer 'service' contribution.

I too had the center electrode fail in my 123 dizzy cap that left me stranded in a far away place. I wasn't smart enough to carry a spare, as I thought the new one would last longer than 2000 km. Silly me. I carry a lot of spares, before and after that event, but rarely have had to use any of them, but experiences like this make the practice necessary. 

Thank you for reading. I remember coming across your post way back whenever I was doing research on these units. I remember when reading yours I convinced myself that you must have got the only fluke! haha.

I've also come around to carrying various spare parts that can fit in the storage bin by the spare tire. Belts, a fuel pump, filters, a spare cap for your spare cap. Can't be too prepared.

Edited by Rill Cosby
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43 minutes ago, Rill Cosby said:

Again, which I clarified already.

You haven't clarified anything for people that understand how engines work.  No offense intended, that's just how it is.

Loss of timing advance as indicated by the "app", smoke smell, poor running, low compression on one cylinder.  Just a list of things that happened that might or might not be connected.

Sorry.  Your frustrated, but you're not making things more clear with your posts.  Go get some real information.  Confirm valve lash, check spark plugs for signs of detonation,  add oil to the cylinders for the compression check to see if it's rings, do a leak down test.  Do more.

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29 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

You haven't clarified anything for people that understand how engines work.  No offense intended, that's just how it is.

Loss of timing advance as indicated by the "app", smoke smell, poor running, low compression on one cylinder.  Just a list of things that happened that might or might not be connected.

Sorry.  Your frustrated, but you're not making things more clear with your posts.  Go get some real information.  Confirm valve lash, check spark plugs for signs of detonation,  add oil to the cylinders for the compression check to see if it's rings, do a leak down test.  Do more.

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific with that. I meant to say I clarified that this could be a big, huge coincidence. 

You're missing the point of this post. This isn't in the "Help Me" section. Nowhere here did I ask for help on diagnosing a failure. Most of those things have been checked. Again, not what this post is about. What happens if it is shot rings, or if it's this, or if it's that? It will still be my fault by your theory. This is what confuses me.

I've voiced my concerns with Ed in what could have caused this scenario to happen. His response was "very unlikely." I stated "but possible?" He stated "yeah..but unlikely" We discussed timing and how this distributor is supposed to work.

I don't know why I have to explain that varying degrees of timing in each direction can be detrimental to an engine. Pair that up with a distributor that clearly is not functioning correctly as proven by it's own app, who knows what that distributor is doing internally. I have no idea what it's set to, nor do you, nor does 123ignition. Sometimes your senses can't save you before an engine failure. And trust me, I was looking for signs. 

I don't know what you're trying to achieve here. I have way more to lean on here than you do, albeit not much. Maybe you're trying to see it from both sides, but you are reaching, far. Your first thought was to think I got frustrated because something, that I didn't even know was broke yet at the time, happened that I couldn't understand so I started gunning my engine. Come on. There is no way you're not the director of 123ignition himself. 

Edited by Rill Cosby
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I'm also still confused by your theory. If I could "beat" up my car before the install, why can't I " beat" up my car with a new distributor that is set to the same specifications of my old, functional distributor? I could "beat" it up 30 minutes before. Why couldn't I after the install?

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You're "bad-mouthing" a good company, based on a lack of knowledge.  I do know how engines work, and I know how to determine the cause of a failure.  You have jumped to a poor conclusion and are sticking to it, no matter how much rational advice you're given.  You're spending more time defending a bad position than actually trying to find the truth.  That's why I'm here, to find out what really happened.

I did not read your email exchange with 123.  But if you communicated with them like you're doing here I can see why they gave you problems, and why they refunded your money.  You just wore them out.

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4 minutes ago, Rill Cosby said:

I'm also still confused by your theory. If I could "beat" up my car before the install, why can't I " beat" up my car with a new distributor that is set to the same specifications of my old, functional distributor? I could "beat" it up 30 minutes before. Why couldn't I after the install?

It's called a coincidence.  Two unrelated things that happened at the same time.  Your engine was about to die anyway, it just happened to happen right after you installed the 123.

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Edited by Zed Head
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