Car suddenly running rough and stalling

[Skyman]

So, I reinstalled the pickup coil, reinstalled the dizzy, set the timing. Now when I give it throttle, it falls flat on its face. Idles fine, but takes some coaxing to get the RMP up. And that's just by hand in the garage. I'm sure I could not get it to drive with any power at all. So any ideas what I did wrong? The only thing out of the ordinary is the new pickup coil was a tighter fit inside the magnetic ring.

Kyle

[notoptoy]

What kind of shape was the magnet in? If you look closely at the reluctor, is there any damage or wear pattern? I don't think it will run if you reverse the red and green wires so that should be OK. Are the screws that hold the breaker plate down tight? There should be a small notch in the plate with an "A" on it, that should be near the tab that aligns the distributor cap - is that in place? The only things I can think of at this point is that the breaker plate has moved, the reluctor/stator alignment is out, the Black Box has gone south or you have a bad wire somewhere. The fact that the new Pick-up coil made a difference indicates that you are probably looking in the right area. How about a picture or two of the distributor and of the breaker plate. Also do you have a vacuum advance - and is it operating freely?

[dbrick]

Sounds like either the red and green are reversed, IIRC, it will run, but be off by ~10 degrees, but this would show up with the timing light.
Is the reluctor installed right side up, the side with the raised rim, vs the bottom which is flat. I don't think you can get the wrong pickup coil,if it fits, it should work

did you reset the timing at a normal low idle with a timing light?
Now the dumb question...is the firing order correct?

[Skyman]

I thought I would post a status report. So I reinstalled the old pick up coil, and the old ignition module. Car runs ok. I am not getting the tach swings nearly as much. It seems like it is lacking in power a bit. I thought I would go through a few items. I made a homemade manometer (carb sync tool) as I didn't think the cheap 4 gauge tool I had was working accurately enough. It was slightly out of balance. I'll have to post some photos of the manometer. It worked out awesome. I haven't had a problem yet in about 50 miles of driving. Although it still just does not run as crisp as it had?

It seemed like the other pickup coil would not allow the dizzy to advance, thus the inability to get the RPM up. I wonder why reinstalling the old stuff made it work? Must have been in the dizzy?

[notoptoy]

If nothing else was changed, I would lean toward the alignment of the stator to the reluctor, or that cleaning the contacts made the difference.
While you had it apart, did you check to see if the mechanical advance was working OK - freely moving at least?

[Skyman]

Well, my demons are back. Car had been running better than ever. Now, it just started doing the same thing again. Wild tach swings, and at the same time, it begins to cut out. I am out of ideas, and don't know where to go now. The only thing I haven't eliminated is the dizzy cap.

Clueless in Salt Lake.

[notoptoy]

A crack in the cap could cause these symptoms. Any change in the weather - rain, high humidity? Wash the car? Water or condensation in the cap or other components could be possible - though Salt Lake area is pretty arid correct?
Otherwise I'd seach for an errant ground - perhaps in the tach wiring itself? Any possibility that a wire has chaffed on something and is intermittently shorting out? Last thought would be a bad ignition module.

[DatsunBucky]

Salt Lake area is pretty arid correct?

Usually, although we've had exceptional amounts of rain this year. We're well on our way to the wettest water year (Oct-Sept) ever recorded here. Our suburb recently got 1.5" of rain in about two hours. Overloaded the rain gutters on the house.

I haven't chimed in on a possible cause, and therefore solution, because I'm at a loss as to what could be causing the problem. How would shorts in the dist cap make the electronic tach swing so wildly? (Of course, electrical problems are the weirdest ones.)

[Skyman]

I think the problem has to be in the distributor somewhere. If it were a loose wire, the tach would die, losing power. I changed out the ignition module and that made no change. I read in another forum that the pick up coil should read greater than 400 ohms. Mine only reads 385. But then again, so does the replacement pick up coil. When I tried the replacement pick up coil, the dizzy wouldn't advance???? Maybe the new one is bad?

I want to race at Miller next week!!!!!!!

[dbrick]

I haven't chimed in on a possible cause, and therefore solution, because I'm at a loss as to what could be causing the problem. How would shorts in the dist cap make the electronic tach swing so wildly? (Of course, electrical problems are the weirdest ones.)

I agree with Bucky, a swinging electronic tach is a primary ignition problem. I think I mentioned it earlier, I dealt with a GM HEI, same basic principals and parts, years back. We tried everything, ended up with a bad pickup coil, which solved it immediately and permanently.
Silly idea, have you disconnected the tach? Try it next time it's acting up.

Also, just for shiggles, add a supplemental ground to the distributor body, even a clip on jumper wire to the distributor body, and check the 2 screws holding the breaker plate .
I forgot if you have one I built, but I painted them pretty thoroughly. If for some reason the breaker plate is losing ground, that could also cause weird things. Hasn't happened yet, but we're reaching for straws at this point.
The lack of advancing is odd, probably unrelated. Try turning the rotor a bit and see if it springs back.

My cell is 908-591-9892 if you need to brainstorm

[Skyman]

I haven't chimed in on a possible cause, and therefore solution, because I'm at a loss as to what could be causing the problem. How would shorts in the dist cap make the electronic tach swing so wildly? (Of course, electrical problems are the weirdest ones.)

I agree with Bucky, a swinging electronic tach is a primary ignition problem. I think I mentioned it earlier, I dealt with a GM HEI, same basic principals and parts, years back. We tried everything, ended up with a bad pickup coil, which solved it immediately and permanently.
Silly idea, have you disconnected the tach? Try it next time it's acting up.

Also, just for shiggles, add a supplemental ground to the distributor body, even a clip on jumper wire to the distributor body, and check the 2 screws holding the breaker plate .
I forgot if you have one I built, but I painted them pretty thoroughly. If for some reason the breaker plate is losing ground, that could also cause weird things. Hasn't happened yet, but we're reaching for straws at this point.
The lack of advancing is odd, probably unrelated. Try turning the rotor a bit and see if it springs back.

My cell is 908-591-9892 if you need to brainstorm

Thanks, Dave. I'll get a chance to play with it a bit tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to drive it until the problem occurs, and check the ohms on the pickup coil. I still think that could be the culprit. I have a GB Dizzy. One of the last ones. Do you know what type of car these cores are from so I know what year and type of distributor cap to ask for. I'll also go and see if I can get a Nissan pickup coil. Was that for a 81-83 210?

Kyle

[notoptoy]

Distributor cap from any 79-81 Datsun 210 is the correct fit.

[dbrick]

I have a GB Dizzy. One of the last ones.
Kyle

Well, Me and Tom are off the hook at least

http://www.311s.org/PDFs/InstallRoadsterEIDizzyrev6.pdf
Page 9 has all the part numbers.

[Skyman]

I have a GB Dizzy. One of the last ones.
Kyle

Well, Me and Tom are off the hook at least

http://www.311s.org/PDFs/InstallRoadsterEIDizzyrev6.pdf
Page 9 has all the part numbers.

So did Gary use the same cores as you and Tom? I replaced the cap and rotor today. 20 miles and no problem yet. I'm not convinced that is the problem, but I needed to eliminate it from the list of causes. If problems persist, I may need to send it to you or Tom to check out. I have the spare pick up coil in the glove box in case it happens again, and then I can do a quick change.

I'll keep everyone up to date on the status. I want to race at Miller Motorsports Park Wednesday.

[notoptoy]

Skyman:
I'm happy to check it out if needed!
Tom