matt1900 0 Posted September 24, 2006 this should be a relatively easy one for all you experts on hear, i noticed the vacuum pipe from the throttle body to dist was broken and probably had been since i've had the car (1.9 8v) i've now replaced it but the car runs no differently suggesting that the advance function doesn't work on my dist. is there a way to confirm whether i need a new one, or is this conclusive enough on it's own? because i've been told this timing advance makes a noticeable difference to performance. nice one matt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted September 24, 2006 Take the pipe off the throtlle body end & suck on it, if there is no resistance & you get a mouthful of oily fumes its failed if you get resistance its working. Only suck gently though, it doesn't move far. In all honesty though simply fixing this won't make a noticable difference in how the car runs. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matt1900 0 Posted September 24, 2006 Take the pipe off the throtlle body end & suck on it, if there is no resistance & you get a mouthful of oily fumes its failed if you get resistance its working. Only suck gently though, it doesn't move far. In all honesty though simply fixing this won't make a noticable difference in how the car runs. Graham. nice one Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ORB 227 1 Cars Posted September 26, 2006 Can someone take a picture highlighting the vac advance pipe on a 205 gti as i am not 100 percent sure what pipe it is Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted September 26, 2006 Can someone take a picture highlighting the vac advance pipe on a 205 gti as i am not 100 percent sure what pipe it is On the car or off? A piece of rubber hose that runs from the vacuum capsule on the distributor to the throttle body & fits onto the small brass pipe in this picture between the two water pipe connections. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ALEX 98 1 Cars Posted September 27, 2006 (edited) Take the pipe off the throtlle body end & suck on it, if there is no resistance & you get a mouthful of oily fumes its failed The only method I know too! In all honesty though simply fixing this won't make a noticable difference in how the car runs. Yeah, fixing the advance on mine didn't make any noticable difference either. Edited September 27, 2006 by ALEX Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theo205 0 Posted September 27, 2006 Take the pipe off the throtlle body end & suck on it, if there is no resistance & you get a mouthful of oily fumes its failed if you get resistance its working. Only suck gently though, it doesn't move far. In all honesty though simply fixing this won't make a noticable difference in how the car runs. Graham. Well said Graham, but it should cure any pinking , under heavy acceleration on low revs since the V.A. is there to retard the timing in this kind of situation. No? Theo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest keithsto Posted September 27, 2006 Never thought of it like that before? I thought it advanced the ignition to give a bit more ooomf? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brianthemagical 1 Posted September 27, 2006 I thought it advanced the ignition to give a bit more ooomf? hence vacuum advance. it advances when there is a vacuum, ie at small throttle openings. it then retards it form it's cruising state to its actual advance when the throttle is opened and there is less of a vacuum, under hadr acceleration. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshpug 1,657 Posted September 27, 2006 aaaah, so if it fails after being set up, it wont affect the drive, but if its set after it fails itll be about 20 degrees out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest keithsto Posted September 28, 2006 Got to disconnect vacuum advance when setting the ignition timing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites