distributor ground wire

[Boulder Bob]

I started a thread about a misfire here:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...y-erratic-tach

I've been driving the car this summer with the misfire - no time to do any diagnosing. It got better, then it got worse.

So today I finally found the time to pull the distributor with the intent of replacing the points.

I found a braided copper wire hanging out in space (actually it was sort of rubbing against the distributor body)



It looks like this wire should be soldered to the curved plate next to the circlip that holds the vacuum advance linkage. There is evidence of solder there.

So do I re solder this wire at that location? Can I use electronics type (rosin core) solder? What should I use to clean the components with prior to soldering? Acetone? Is it just the glob of solder that holds the wire in place?

I hope this is my misfire cause.

Also - now that I have the distributor out - I'm thinking I should clean between the plate that the points mount to and the lower plate, to make sure the advance works smoothly (it seems to work OK when I suck on the vacuum hose, so maybe I should just leave it alone). Do I just remove the circlip? Or are there other steps I need need to do?

Is there anything else I should do with the distributor out? (Thanks to Ed Mayo for recommending distributor removal)

Thank You!

[ESully]

Yes , just clean it up, alcohol and resolder it with rosin core. You might be able to get new braided cable at radio shack or other electronics store if you wanted to make a new jumper.
To take out the plates, you need to take off the circlip, and remove the screws around the outside of the disrtibutor, and remove the vacuum pod. Heres a thread for further into the distributor.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...intenance.html

[savaden]

The ground wire was originally welded to the points plate. You will find it difficult to solder the wire to that spot because 1. The points plate is nickel plated and nickel does not accept solder. 2. The points plate is a large heat sink and it will be hard to get it hot enough for the solder to melt. If you do get it hot enough, it is likely that the solder will wick into the braided wire causing it to become brittle and fracture later.

The best procedure would be to first clean the braided wire end thoroughly and scrape the wires to remove any oxidation. Apply some flux to the end of the wire, heat the wire and apply just enough solder to tin the end.

Scrape the surface of the spot where the wire was welded to remove any oxidation. Apply flux to the area. Heat the points plate until the solder will melt. Make sure the solder sticks to the points plate. Test it by scraping the solder blob with an xacto knife blade.

Now join the wire to the plate where you have tinned both parts, applying just enough heat to melt the solder in the are where the wire will be joined.

Good luck. This is a difficult repair. You might want to let someone with lots of experience attempt it. Or find another points plate. I have seen some repairs where a connector was crimped to the end of the ground wire and held in place by using a longer screw and nut, but there are clearance issues, obviously.

SV

[Boulder Bob]

Yes , just clean it up, alcohol and resolder it with rosin core. You might be able to get new braided cable at radio shack or other electronics store if you wanted to make a new jumper.
To take out the plates, you need to take off the circlip, and remove the screws around the outside of the disrtibutor, and remove the vacuum pod. Heres a thread for further into the distributor.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...intenance.html

thanks for the good info and link

[Boulder Bob]

well I gave it a shot and it's pretty ugly but the wire is sticking and the resistance between the top and bottom plates is zero

thanks, savaden, for the good procedure

at some point I might look for another points plate

and it didn't fix the misfire/bouncing tach problem

I may try to swap CD boxes with one from Carquip, my nearby dismantler if they will let me