'74 2.0 vacuum advance

[Dave Thompson]

My cars distributor has a vacuum advance unit on it with an advance side tube and a retard tube. I've connected the advance to the only vacuum tube I can find on my air distributor (right above where the throttle cable connects) but can't find any place to connect a hose for the retard side. I had read on a forum site somewhere that this car isn't supposed to use the vacuum advance at all, then I read in a professional shop manual at the library that some models used both advance and retard, but I couldn't get any thing more specific on this year/model. Does anyone know if and where I should be connecting the hoses for advance and/or retard on my ignition?! Also, I have not been able to get my engine idle below 1500 rpm, no matter what, until I plugged the little hole in the intake butterfly with a crew, and now I can adjust the idle completely with the idle adjust screw jet. Is this the way it is supposed to be? Is there supposed to be something plugging the hole like my screw? Or is there some other thing that I should know about relating to idle control? Thanks

[John Rogers]

Our 1974 2.0 distributor has two hose connections as yours does. Our throttle body also has two connection ports for the vacuum hoses. If yours has one, connect it to the retard side of the advance mechanism. If it has two, connect the one with vacuum at idle to the retard side, the other nipple to the advance side. Some cars have mixed and matched throttle bodies, the 1974 throttle body is supposed to only have the one hose I think (Dave ?), but we have an earlier (1973?). If they are hooked up backwards, the idle will never come down since the advance will be nearly full on.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

According to the State of California (or at least the Local Smog Monkeys), the 74 2.0 did not have vaccuum advance. But who knows for sure?

I know that at least *some* 74s (and 75s and 76es) did not come with a vaccuum advance fitting on the throttle body. All of them did have both fittings on the distributor dashpot. (Probably cheaper to make just one version.)

Dave, check my hose diagram on the 914 Fan Page. The vacc advance hose would be the one running from the right-forward fitting on the throttle body, to the left-rear fitting on the distributor dashpot. If you don't have the fitting on the throttle body, then don't hook it up. Or, if you think your local Smog Cops might give you problems, hook up a hose and run the other end down under the manifold and don't hook it to anything.

--DD

[This message has been edited by Dave_Darling (edited 05-24-99).]

[jmcleod]

check the hose diagram posted by dave darling. i have a 74 that has both the vacuum advance and retard and i hooked the hoses up according to that diagram. if memory serves me, both connections are on the throttle body, but check the diagram to be sure.