Pinto Missfire & no vac advance

[matthew h]

I have got a 2.0l pinto that was rebuilt 1500 miles ago, it has been  running well until recently when it developed a missfire at circa 4K. On closer inspection there vac advance is missing, I don't know if it has always been that way!

Does it need it to run properly? Is it worth fitting electronic ignition before my first track day next Saturday?

Any help appreciated as I am stupid when it comes to repairing anything!

Thanks

Matthew

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Vacuum advance is not usually used on multi-carb set ups as it's difficult to get access to a smooth source of vacuum. The inlet manifold on a 'normal' car engine is common to all cylinders and thus each cylinder that's on induction pulls a vacuum in the manifold and that's twice per revolution. On a four-separate-choke arrangement each cylinder has its own unique access to its carburetter choke and if you tap into any one of these it will deliver vacuum only once every other revolution - very 'pulsed'. Some people simply leave the vacuum pipe nipple unconnected and set the timing commensurately more advanced at idle - about 14 degrees BTDC on a Pinto at 900rpm, if I recall correctly. Others fit a non-vacuum distributor. I'm afraid I don't know if there's a good reason to choose the latter. Someone else might be able to help there. It might be connected with the advance curves of the two types.

[GaryD]

Check your points gap as pinto distributers have a habit of the points gap closing

[Blatman]

Do the simple things first. If you have points and a condenser, then I'd dump them immediately for an electronic set up. My personal fave is the Lumenition Magnetronic. Had it on the Cossie for 4 years and it was faultless. A doddle to fit too.

A new set of plgs and a clean up of the air filter is a good idea, and make sure you have the fuel pressure set correctly. Also check the ignition leads and the coil connections and earths, as well as *ALL* the other earths on the car, especially the engine earth. If it still misfires after that, let us know...

[perksy]

Mathew i see your from Mkt drayton.

If you get stuck bring westy down to next club night and we'll try and help or pm me and we'll try and sort something out.

HTH

[salty_monk]

You can remove the vac advance unit from a standard dizzy easy enough if you need to... http://nw.rhocar.org/tuningdizzy.htm

I wouldn't use lumenition if you have a points dizzy, go for the Aldon stuff, cheaper & easier to fit, more reliable  & the new stuff has the adjustable dwell etc same as lumenition. http://www.aldonauto.co.uk/

This also gets rid of the condensor too, also known to randomly go tits up...

The vac advance being missing won't affect how it runs, it's an indication that you have a dizzy with a modified advance (as on that website) curve for twin carbs & is a good thing. Only thing that suffers is fuel consumption as on a light throttle the engine won't run as much advance & so won't be as efficient. Wasn't a problem for me as I just made an effort to drive it flat out.... well if you've got to pay for it anyway...

I would check a few things. Check you have no s**t in your fuel lines & that the filter isn't clogged. Also check that the jets are clear on your carb.

Also change points & condensor (if you have them or fit Aldon kit), rotor arm (it's not unknown for a hairline crack to develop that you can't see to cause this), dizzy cap, leads, plugs & coil for new or known good ones. Also make sure the dizzy hasn't moved & timing is ok, the pinto clamp is quite small.

Dan

[matthew h]

Thanks for the help, I am sitting at work with the Demon theifs website, aldonautos & classicheads!

Will update you as soon as I get an answer.

[matthew h]

The garage have just let us know there is something wrong with the carbs...............

I get the singing wallet feeling!

[Blatman]

What's wrong with the carbs?

[matthew h]

I am getting it all second hand via my old chap..........

Just a general statement that they are knackered.......

And now to add insult to injury they say one of the cylinders isn't working. It had a f@@@@@@ rebuild before I bought it and I have done less than 2k in it, mostly in the rain. Not happy as I have booked a trackday for saturday & a cottage near the circuit for the w.end. They are going to open it up and have a look at it now and see exactly what the problem is.

Not the best intro to Westfield ownership.

[Blatman]

Just a general statement that they are knackered.......

Unless they have holes in them where they shouldn't have, knackered simply means they need some new bits fitted. This is not unusual for Webers as some of them are pretty old. Most of the parts are still available from Webcon so it's not the end of the world. Far from it.

More worrying is that the problem seems to have migrated to the engine

Is the garage in question experienced in these matters?

[matthew h]

The garage "claimed"  to be good at fixing pinto's, but it doesn't look good for them! The problem I have got is they are the garage next door to work & good friends with the MD's. Not an easy kick off situation.

I am exceptional fed up.

[Blatman]

Could do with more info on the "cylinder not working" too. Is it getting fuel, is it simply a wet plug or a duff lead, or are they claiming a holed piston or something?

[matthew h]

The garage are going to have a look now. All I know is it starts off ok and then gets worse the longer it runs.

[matthew h]

Rough figures...........

How much to stick a new engine in which will match up to my ford XR4i gearbox (ie, would a zetec/duratec fit in)?

Thanks