distributor?

[Heinrich]

Quick question.

On my s3 fulvia

When engine is at tdc and cam's are on the little marker , should the distributor be on 1 or 4?

Was there EVER a change with this between any fulvia engine?

Thank you

Heinrich

[william]

If the engine is at TDC with the marking on the flywheel corresponding to the marking on the bellhouse it means piston 1 and 4 are in TDC. The distributor should point to the cilinder were both valves are closed. This is the cilinder waiting for a spark. (if the valve cover is fitted this can be checked by blowing compressed air into the carburator inlet trumpet (airfilter cover removed) and with throttle wide open. The cilinder with the valves closed will blow all air back while the cilinder with the valves in overlap blows through the exhaust.
This theory goes for all engines.

[Heinrich]

That makes complete sense.

And that's also how i understood it.

I read random clippings on fulvia engines and on certain ones explaining timing gears they state VERY good that "if engine and valve at TDC the Distributor MUST point to no4 (NOT 1)"

and on other parts it talks about at tdc no. 1 both valves are closed (As you stated as "waiting for spark")

I was just curious if the different fulvia engines and s1 vs s2 and s3 coupe vs sedan has differences in the engine at tdc. just curiosity....

i'll take tappet cover off again just to make sure. easier to see cam markings than the flywheel markings anyway

[Huib]

Be careful. The TDC marking is the same for cilinders 1 and 4. If the marking on the flywheel is aligned than both #1 and #4 are at TDC. You have to find out if 1 or 4 is going to fire.
If you want to use the mark on the camshaft remember that if the mark is aligned #1 is changing from exhaust (almost closed) to inlet (just opening). The finger of the rotor has to point to 4.

[Randy Adams]

I just use a quick and dirty method. If it doesn't start with the distributor one way, then I move it to the other position and -- voila! Saves time.

[P. de R. Leclercq]

One "point "about all this. The distributor should be installed so that No 1 is at the bottom - certainly on 1600s and from memory 1300s too. There is no technical reason for this although I suspect it is better from a point of view of the cap clips on 1300s, but I think that this was the original position and one can see the points!

Paul

[Heinrich]

My no1 is at the bottom , and when the timing is set correct it is a bit hard to get to one of the clips (top one)

and by the way ,my 1300 must be on number 4 with engine on tdc....

[william]

To fix this accessability problem you can remove the distributor and insert it with the small bottom gear rotated a bit. It takes some effort but you can get the clips were you want them.

[Randy Adams]

I'm speaking from memory here because I only work with Flaminias now and they only accept the distributor in one position, but on my Fulvias (1216 & 1298) I scratched a little line on the edge of the distributor approximately where the rotor should be pointing for cylinder number one. That made it no problem at all to pull the distributor out and move it however suited my purpose. And, like I said, if it didn't start with it pointing at number one I just pulled the distributor up to clear the skew gear and rotated the shaft 180 degrees and back down into position and I was in business.