pianodirt Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Forgive me as I'm a rookie when it comes to car maintenance... I want to check the air gap in my Nippendenso distributor. The reluctor point is supposed to be up against the metal pickup thingy, right? Is it supposed to be that way with the car off, or do I have to move it there? I tried turning the shaft, what gives? Also, what makes a timing light "inductive" vs. non-inductive and why does it matter? Is a cheap timing light a dwell/tach just fine or should I get something decent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 the disty shaft turns when the car is running, and will stop in no particular position when turned off. Adjusting that gap must be done with the disty removed from the engine. Get a manual to show you how. You shouldn't have to adjust that gap, but if you do, it can only be done off the car cause you need to be able to rotate the shaft. The ND distys have a tendancy to be more affected by shaft wear than the hitachi's. They both suffer shaft wear at seemingly the same rate, but the Hitachi units will go longer (much longer) before any effect of that wear is noticed. I have seen Hitachi's with three times as much shaft wear as a ND that had stopped working because of it, and they were working just fine. It's just an interesting thing I have noticed. You want an inductive timing light - it's just how the light hooks up to the car, and induction is easier to use. Cheap timing light works fine for me, these cars aren't rocket science, so they don't need anything fancy. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 inductive simply means that it picks up a signal from a plug wire when the clip is placed around the wire. something about magnetic feilds and all. never heard of a non inductive timing light unless you are refering to one designed for coil on plug ignition. as for the air gap just like GD said it usually does not need to be checked. you can usually feel the play in the shaft if it is excessive. what type of problem are you tring to fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 non-inductive must be connected in parralel with the plug wire - ie: you have to disconnect the plug wire, and insert the lead for the light into the circuit. Inductive does not require a direct connection in the circuit - it has circuitry to "sense" the surrounding magnetic field of the plug wire when the plug fires. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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