205wrc 16 Posted January 28, 2006 I'm not sure if its the distributor causing this problem, but here goes. Lately, if I drive the car quite hard, the stop light comes on, coolant temp rises, and I can hear a pinking noise. There is enough fluid in the engine and its quite fresh. I took it to a chap to check the timing, but he couldn't do it properly as he said that it was advancing itself as he was trying to set it, and that the vacuum advance was knackered. Does anybody on here have any idea of what could be wrong - I have a rally next weekend and this problem (along with binding rear brakes) is all I have to do to the car to get her ready. The engine is a standard (1986 - D reg) 1.6Gti with a Bosch dizzy, fitted with a K & N induction kit, 1.9 injectors and ecu. Any ideas??? Thanks Aled Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hengti 2 Posted January 28, 2006 Have a look at Ictoan's similar active thread - might give you some ideas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonah 1 Posted January 30, 2006 Does the engine run normally apart from the overheating? Does the pinking only start when the engine overheats or does it already pink while the engine's at normal temperatures? A broken vacuum advance on its own won't cause that kind of overheating, and if the timing's far enough out to cause it then I'd have thought you'd notice the poor running first. How badly are the brakes binding? Maybe you're having to use far too much throttle to keep moving while there's not enough airflow through the rad to keep the engine cool? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thijs_Rallye 87 4 Cars Posted February 7, 2006 You could try to bleed the cooling system for a start. If there is air trapped in the system, it could cause strange overheating problems too. Since this isn't too hard to do, and five minutes works, it's worth a try. Anyhow, if you want to set the timing, you must disconnect the vacuum-advance-line, and plug it air-tight with a bolt or something. It's best to set the timing when the engine is running @ 2000 RPM's or so, because they aren't known for their great idle-performance. The markings will be all over the place @ idle. Just look up what advance-curve your distributor has, add it to the static advance, and set it. For example, static advance 10 degrees BTC, centrifugal advance between 4 and 8 degrees BTC @ 2000 RPM, will result in (4+8)/2 + 10 = 16 degrees BTC @ 2000 RPM. At a higher RPM you're signal for the timing light is much more stable. The numbers are fictional! grz Thijs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
