Club 80-90 Forums

Am I being thick? I don't want to force anything but my rotor arm does not want to come off:

What is this metal tab for (arrowed) is it some kind of release clip?
Also, while I'm asking silly questions - should something be connected to this rather grubby looking terminal (circled)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

(1.9 DG, carb'd)

It's a rev-restricted rotor arm, should just pull upwards ... throw it in the bin and buy a normal one. Can't comment on the arrowed bit but the spare terminal is on all the DG dizzys.

Ian

the arrowed bit is the earthing tab

as stated above it will pull upwards , its just pressed on.

if its not causing probs why change it .

factory fitted VW revlimiter rotor arm.

saves the engine when you forget to change gear

see the bit across from the arrowed tab it slides out to meet the arrowed tab at the require engine speed (5400 rpm?) and shorts out the spark , thus stopping you over reving the engine

Does the rev limted rotor arm make any sense at all in a van with auto gearbox?

saves the engine when you forget to change gear

Yep, I suppose so. More to go wrong though.

Thanks for the replies.
I am not looking to replace it at this point, I just want to get it off to clean it up and to enable me to inspect the general condition of it and the rest of the dizzy. It seem to be stuck fast - I may be being a wimp but I don't want to damage anything by forcing it. I will give it a bit of a pry tonight and see if I can free it.

I couldn´t get mine off either so I just left it. My van´s got bigger issues anyway right now.

I just want to get it off to clean it up

In case you didn't know, dont use anything abrasive on the brass rotor because the gap between that and the terminals inside the distributor cap is crucial to good performance. if the gep is enlarged by cleaning it with say some fine grit sandpaper, etc that will likely make it worse. Try instead gently rubbing the edge on one of your tyres and then finish off with a little petrol soaked onto a cloth.

carbon is a conductor you can leave it , no need to clean, condition of the cap points is more important/indicator

Aidan wrote:carbon is a conductor you can leave it , no need to clean, condition of the cap points is more important/indicator

Presumably I shouldn't clean these with anything abrasive either in order to maintain the correct gaps?
I still need to get it off as I will need to replace it one day.

They can sometimes be very tight if the engine hasn't been serviced correctly. The rotor arm should be removed every service and a couple of drops of oil applied to the felt pad on top of the shaft to lubricate the centrifugal advance. The method is if you look at the metal tap you arrowed you will see it runs down to the base of the rotor arm it then turns in and acts as the spring to hold the rotor arm on, this normally corrodes holding the rotor arm on. Tun the engine so you can get a lever under the metal tab and the distributor body, lever up against the tap whilst also pulling up and rocking the rotor arm.

As others have said, don't use anything abrasive on the rotor arm tip.
To remove....a constant pull straight upwards with a rocking motion back and forth.
A couple of drops of oil to the shaft felt (if it has one) for the centrifugal weights/mechanism.
The distributor cap itself can be cleaned in a tray with thinners and a half inch brush.

The terminal on the body of the distributor is for an earthing braid/strap as fitted to metal distributor shrowds.

Martin

California Dreamin wrote: The terminal on the body of the distributor is for an earthing braid/strap as fitted to metal distributor shrowds.

Martin

So I shouldn't have anything on the terminal? Am I missing a shroud?

I got the rotor arm off today - I was just being a wuss - I just needed to pull harder. Slips on and off as it should now and I oiled the felt while I was at it, thanks for all the advice.
It is quite badly pitted and black so I guess I should be looking to repalce it before too long.