Chipped Reluctor Wheel

[2wenty]

Been trying to get one of my cars up and running from sitting for 20 years.

383 motor. Breaks up on acceleration and has weird misses to it. Pulled the cap, cleaned the cap and rotor and it ran a little better. Still missing and not running right. Went to check timing and the mark is like 4 inches off the marking bracket on the cover. Moved the distributor around and it seems right. Will die long before it gets to the marks. Dont know if the damper spun on the rubber or what. Another problem Ill need to sort out now.

Keep chasing the issue. Looked at all the plug wires while it was night to see if spark was jumping and nothing. Pulled the wire from the MSD coil and got lit up, definitely not a weak coil. Pulled the cap again and noticed this.

All the poles on the reluctor are chipped. The chipped off metal pieces were stuck to the magnet in the back. The No clue what to do now.

Are the bushing worn out and it tilled and hit the pick up? The chipped out parts are smaller than the pick up though. Is it possible to just buy the reluctor wheel? I would guess to say this could be part of the random misfiring and breaking up problem?

Thanks

 

[Nacho-RT74]

In my experience that could happen for two reasons. One of them or both together:

-Bushings worn, tipical on BB due the slanted position, not so much on SB.

-The free play of the pickup assembly plate. One of the free play issues makes to get close the pick up when vacuum advance is activated. When adjusting gap, I use to apply vacuum to be sure the gap is at least close to the adjustment. I have need to bend back and forth the pick up bracket to be sure the gap is at least on an average measure with and without vacuum applied. The pick up assembly moves in a diff radius than the reluctor so is nearly impossible to get the same gap in rest position and advanced position

Yes, reluctor is replaceable and available, but also can filed depending on how deep were the bites. I have made both. Sure when filed, needs to be sure all be made at same height.

Bushings used to be available too.

About ignition problems related to that… in my experience that never represented really an ign problem.

 

[Geoff 2]

You need a new reluctor & I would also get a new p/up. The pole piece on the p/up is shaped to a sharp-er edge, like an arrow head. That has probably been damaged, but hard to see.

 

[Jonas Nordstrom]

I had this happen to me when the pickup plate had not engaged fully down on the vacuum advance arm pin.

 

[GTX JOHN]

Stock electronic distributors are very inexpensive and easy to find = I would just replace it.

I get to LA every few weeks and If I find a 383/400 one in my big bucket of them = I will
go thru it and give it to you for free if you still need one by then you are in the LA area..

 

[Nacho-RT74]

You need a new reluctor & I would also get a new p/up. The pole piece on the p/up is shaped to a sharp-er edge, like an arrow head. That has probably been damaged, but hard to see.

New reluctor could be ( as I mentioned, I have filed them to fix, mounted on dist yet) but new pick up I don’t think is necessary.



But at each own.

 

[Bee1971]

You couldn’t give me a Chinese pickup coil for the distributor today

What ignition box are you running with that MSD Coil you mentioned

Are you running a Ballast or No

 

[twecomm]

IMHO.. Eliminate the current and future distributor issues and get a Firecore distributor. Great quality and stability.

 

[MWbirdLOVER70]

In my experience that could happen for two reasons. One of them or both together:

-Bushings worn, tipical on BB due the slanted position, not so much on SB.

-The free play of the pickup assembly plate. One of the free play issues makes to get close the pick up when vacuum advance is activated. When adjusting gap, I use to apply vacuum to be sure the gap is at least close to the adjustment. I have need to bend back and forth the pick up bracket to be sure the gap is at least on an average measure with and without vacuum applied. The pick up assembly moves in a diff radius than the reluctor so is nearly impossible to get the same gap in rest position and advanced position

Yes, reluctor is replaceable and available, but also can filed depending on how deep were the bites. I have made both. Sure when filed, needs to be sure all be made at same height.

Bushings used to be available too.

About ignition problems related to that… in my experience that never represented really an ign problem.

Possibly a bent distributor shaft. This was discussed a few days ago and maybe a “search” might come up with detailed info

 

[2wenty]

Its a MP kit from like 20+ years ago also has a MSD 6AL from 20+ years ago too.

I swapped the orange box with another and it didnt fix it, still ran the same.

 

[2wenty]

Stock electronic distributors are very inexpensive and easy to find = I would just replace it.

I get to LA every few weeks and If I find a 383/400 one in my big bucket of them = I will
go thru it and give it to you for free if you still need one by then you are in the LA area..

Thanks, im with the car currently on the east coast.

 

[2wenty]

Just pulled the distributor apart to blow out all the metal flake. Could of been my fault this happend. I might of unknowing pulled on the magnetic pick up when I was trying to get the rotor off to clean it. Shaft is straight and everything else seems fine.

The engine builder that built the motor before I bought it was nice to remove one of the springs. I was gonna mess with all this while I was in there but looks like its already good to go.

Also is the vacuum spring for the advance supposed to really heavy? It was very hard to move.

I have a 426 hemi distributor here that is electronic. Was gonna take the reluctor for the time being, but when I checked for clearances 3 of the teeth will touch the magnetic pick up while the others have a gap. Not sure what that would be. Shaft doesnt look bent and it hasnt been rubbing from what I can see. Maybe just manufacture tolerances?

The spring that was removed

The magnetic pickup on my old purple tag for the 383. Seems like it might be okay.

 

[2wenty]

Ground down the points. Im a couple thou off on a couple of points dont know if that would make it mis. Still going to order another reluctor, cap and rotor.

Went over the cars grounds and found a couple loose. Need to double check the 6AL is getting a good ground.

Drove it to test it. Slightly better, not great. Still sounds like its missing, breaks up around the mid range at full throttle then will start to clean up some what and pull to high rpm but not great. Backfires on the overrun.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

You should get two springs, a soft one and a hard one… working together makes the advance curve, the soft one for the initial stage, the hard one for later stage or the second part of the curve according to the vacuum

 

[Bee1971]

Its a MP kit from like 20+ years ago also has a MSD 6AL from 20+ years ago too.

I swapped the orange box with another and it didnt fix it, still ran the same

Me Confused

MP Kit

Then you mention orange box swap didn’t fix it

Then you mention MSD 6 AL Ignition box

Then I see a ballast resistor in your picture

Obviously your running a Mopar Distributor

Earlier you said a MSD Ignition Coil

What ignition box or Ignition system are you running today with that Distributor

I am leaning towards coil or box but need to know your exact set up and how it’s powered with battery voltage

 

[2wenty]

Sorry for the delay, been traveling.

Mopar performance kit. Purple tag.

MSD 6AL box

MSD Blaster 3 coil

MSD Super conductor wires

Splitfire plugs (going to replace when I have the chance)

Dont know the voltage cant check it at this time.

Car ran for years on this setup.

 

[Black_Sheep]

It’s not unusual for the reluctor to pickup coil gap change as the vacuum advance moves the stator. I don’t think that reluctor is salvageable, it should be replaced before going any further. Use a vacuum pump to actuate the vacuum advance and see if the air gap changes, if it does then something is bent or worn.