Club 80-90 Forums

Evening.
Just finishing my engine installation, upgrade from CT to CU.
I'm trying to set timing but Every time I rotate the distributor with the engine running I get massive belt of electricity through my hands if I'm touching any other part of the van.
Starting to quite like it but it's not helping me get the timing set.
Have I wired something incorrectly or is there a likely suspect to check first?
Cheers,
George

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Engine earth strap ok?

slowcoach wrote:Engine earth strap ok?

He's called George

"Feels" as though the dizzy cap may be cracked or insulation breaking down on HT leads / king lead

Earth strap good. New leads and cap.
At a loss.

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Get some rubber gloves.

Seriously, that's really strange, I'm well used to adjusting the timing that way and never had a belt.

Do you have another dizzy to try ?

Hello,

Have you painted the crankcase /timing locking plate..

IIRC you are using a powerspark SVDA..

What are you doing with the CT..

Cordialement,

A couple of ideas for testing:

Run the engine in the dark and see if there's any electrical effects when you aren't acting as an earth.

Next get a jump lead, earth one end and move the other end near the dizzy cap and each of the leads. When you see the spark, you know where the leak is coming from.

Wear something to insulate yourself. New parts can be faulty.

sarran1955 wrote:Hello,

Have you painted the crankcase /timing locking plate..

IIRC you are using a powerspark SVDA..

What are you doing with the CT..

Cordialement,

Thanks for the replies, I have painted gearbox and various parts but not crank case.
I am running powerspark on CT and planning to rebuild as bigger capacity, maybe copy your idea John.
On this engine I am trying to go standard on the ignition with electric fuel pump and j tubes.
Tried running it tonight it is running smooth at all speeds, no arcing visible.
The shocks are definite HT, I know from experience.
Just don't know where exactly.

sarran1955 wrote:Hello,

Have you painted the crankcase /timing locking plate..

IIRC you are using a powerspark SVDA..

What are you doing with the CT..

Cordialement,

Thanks for the replies, I have painted gearbox and various parts but not crank case.
I am running powerspark on CT and planning to rebuild as bigger capacity, maybe copy your idea John.
On this engine I am trying to go standard on the ignition with electric fuel pump and j tubes.
Tried running it tonight it is running smooth at all speeds, no arcing visible.
The shocks are definite HT, I know from experience.
Just don't know where exactly.

Could it be the rare combination of warm weather and an often damp climate?

Did you try the jump lead to earth test or putting the old dizzy cap on ?

I've always been wary of grabbing a distributor cap while adjusting the timing

Tried jump lead test and replaced cap.
One problem is testing if the issue is still there.
It's quite a belt and I can't persuade the good lady to test it for me.

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So it might be fixed, but you don't want to find out, I understand, electro aversion therapy does work.

Did you see any sparks to the jump lead, or did you just replace the cap in case the new one was faulty ?

Just replaced as precaution. I still need to set the timing so will find out soon whether it is fixed!
No shocks unless I earth myself on the engine.
Oh and no visible sparks.

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