Weights in my dizzy?
 

(cross post from 914 forum)
[not a lot of action there]


Any weights in my dizzy?
Car is a 2.0 L 912E with the 914 motor.

In the cold weather, my revs stay up between shifts - like 3,000 rpm.

A former 914 owner says he fixed this problem by lubing the centrifugal weights, as they were sticking. I think his car was a 1.7 or 1.8.

I removed the cap, and looked in two books (factory and Chilton) but can't find a schematic of the distributor interior showing the weights.

Had the factory gone to electrical advance by 1976?

And, yes, I have the vacuum pot and related hose in tact.

Thanks in advance
Bill K

Put a timing light on it and check for proper advance.

A quick way to check is take the dist. cap off and try to turn the rotor by hand. It should turn about 10 deg or so and spring back. If it is sticky you might fix it by adding a drop of oil under the rotor on the small felt circle on top of the shaft.

To get to the actual weights, you will have to remove the plate that holds the points or trigger.

However I bet if your timing advance is sticking the problem is in the shaft, not with the actual weights.

Thanks Gordon, I'm all in favor of the quick fix.
I had the rotor off when I looked for the weights, and noticed it did not do the snap-back when I jiggled it.
So, I'll try a few drops of lube on the places you mentioned.
Bill K

The distributor will have weights, even the later '84 on Carreras had weights. It may need a little more work than the few drops of oil on the felt. The felt pad needs regular oiling, and the points rubbing block needs special points grease. Most distributors suffer from lack of maintenance. Too much lube can also contaminate the points.
Here is a thread, with links to other distributor maintenance threads
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/692119-distributor-maintenance.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1580658521.JPG

Nice picture Ed. Thanks.

I'm hesitant about removing the plate that holds the points. I remember years ago, when I was doing my 73, little irreplaceable screws made of invisibilium falling into the nether regions of the tins. Then there's checking the timing and resetting the dwell.
The car is running so well now except for the failure to lose revs between shifts when cold. (Starts right up with less than one revolution.)

But, then again the whole process might make things even better.

Bill K

you need to learn to set the timing and points'

take the dist out to work on it.

set the crank so it is at TDC and the rotor is pointing at #1 cylinder. put it back in the same way.

(you really don't have to do that as long as you put it back in the same as it came out. but for now set it to #1)