123 ignition help!

[alfie1977]

Hi, I'm trying to replace the Bosch 051 distributor with a 123 electric version. I musty have repeated the instructions 8 times but can't get the car to fire.
Looking at the position of the rotor in relation to no 1 plug connection on the cap at TDC they don't look aligned.
Am i missing something? I can't see how I can rotate the rotor arm as it's attached to the drive gear. Do you sometimes need to move the drive gear?
Thanks for any help - I'm fairly stuck right now.
Alfie

[alfie1977]

Sorted now. Being stupid!
Alfie

[Tyler S]

Yes the drive gear needs to be moved. Looks like you got it sorted. Which model 123 did you purchase?

[Jordan]

Alfie, please explain what you did to get sorted.  If it was just moving the drive gear, is that explained in the 123 instructions?  If not what did you do?
Thanks.

[alfie1977]

When I installed the new distributor the rotor arm didn't sit in the same position as the the one I took off. If you were stood facing the front of the car the original arms was pointing to 3pm ( clock face), the new unit was more like 4.30pm Ie further round in a clockwise direction. What I was missing is the importance of the position of the rotor arm in relation to the cap rather than matching its old position. I rotated the distributor until the arm sat just ahead of plug 1 on the cap ( same as old unit). I then followed the flashing led setup of the unit. The car then started straight away.
Just need to double check with a timing light to make sure it's spot on.
Regards
Alfie

[alfie1977]

It's the base model 6-R-V.
Alfie

[Jordan]

Alfie, so was it necessary to rotate the drive gear on the 123 distributor?  As you state, the rotor is tied to the drive gear and thus the rotor can only point in one of two directions (180 degrees from each other) if you orient the drive gear in the same direction as the 051 distributor that you pulled out.  So if the rotor is pointing in the wrong direction when you drop it into place, I can only see adjusting it by rotating the drive gear on the 123 distributor.  Does that make sense and is that what you did.  Hopefully my explanation is clear as mud.
Thanks.

[alfie1977]

The relationship between the rotor and the drive gear was about 15 degs different to my old distributor. I don't think this really matters though as the important relationship is between the rotor and the cap which I think I had wrong. The cap can only fit in one postion on the distributor. I think the rotor was pointing to plug 4 not plug 1. I presume the led can come on in 6 positions ( each cylinder). So I think that was my mistake.

[Tyler S]

Rotating the distributer housing works for small differences. 15 degrees isnt much. However, anything more than that it starts to affect where your ignition wire placement is. You will need to either move the drive gear or start moving wire locations on the distributer. Moving original or custom length wires around on the cap is not always feasible. The original rotor location on an 051 dist at top dead center #1 is pointing at roughly 9 o-clock or twards the battery.

[stickandrudderman]

The adjustment possibilities are infinite.
You can lift the distributor up so it's free of its drive gear and reposition one tooth out so you can have the distributor body exactly where you want it.

[alfie1977]

Thanks for the tips, I checked the timing with a timing gun this evening and set at 38 deg BTC @ 3000 rpm and 8 deg at idle. The idle is a little high maybe 900 rpm, can I adjust the idle down a little, a read somewhere about an idle screw. Can anyone point at its location?
Cheers
Alfie