24 replies to this topic

[corsicanwood]

I tend to think tools are supposed to work correctly, or not work at all… plus the timing gun is brand new. The scatter might as well be caused by too insulating ht leads, or worn dizzy parts…
The innovas are regarded as good quality strobes, do you see some kind of « scatter » too?

But yes, I should try that lamp on another car to be sure. And another strobe on my car as well but unfortunately I do not have any of these in hand at the moment

@weef actually the photo of the pulley from my post is taken from the internet haha. Mine is only as thick as the groove where the belt sits, it does not have the bulky damping part seen on the right

[m1n1]

I have a gunsons advanced timing light and i get a little bit of scatter on the mini, i blame the gun as with a different dizzy and leads and plugs its still there.   I get a lot of scatter on my +earth land rover reading off the flywheel.. i think its interference from the copper ht leads and voltage regulator and the gun isn't the best.   

[68+86auto]

Physically inspect the distributor and If it is bad, send it away for reconditioning.

If you do enough searching there is most likely someone local to you who can do it or at least test it and set the dwell.

A dwell meter is an essential tool.

Edited by 68+86auto, 22 January 2026 - 10:44 PM.

[gazza82]

In the initial post the OP says "The strobe is the same as the accuspark SP8000" ...

Does that mean it's a cheap version?

[corsicanwood]

The dizzy central shaft does not have lateral play at all. The contacts & cap are a little bit worn so I’ll replace that as I've got another set right now and see what happens. Also used a little bit of thin oil on the weights shafts & the cotton pad to help prevent anything from seizing at high rpms

@gazza82 well not cheaper, just another brand. It looks identical down to the controls and LCD. It might as well be a a rebrand, I couldn’t order the genuine accuspark from where I live so I went with that

[Rubbershorts]

Have you tried the light connected to an alternate power source, such as a spare battery, and not connecting it up to the car in the usual manner? This may eliminate some potential electrical interference. I believe AC Dodd does this. Daz.

 

...also putting  the strobe on a different cylinder - you'd need to add a mark on the pulley for 2&3.

[timmy850]

The Accuspark SP8000 didn’t get a good review from AC

https://youtu.be/iyo...utzXlp-DoDTmQsn

[corsicanwood]

Oh, I had not seen this video. AC has the same problem at high rpms on every single engine in this video
So it really is the strobe then…

I will however try to separate & insulate all the wires from the strobe and see what happens… thanks a lot !

[NLinPEN]

I tend to think tools are supposed to work correctly, or not work at all… plus the timing gun is brand new. The scatter might as well be caused by too insulating ht leads, or worn dizzy parts…
The innovas are regarded as good quality strobes, do you see some kind of « scatter » too?

But yes, I should try that lamp on another car to be sure. And another strobe on my car as well but unfortunately I do not have any of these in hand at the moment

Yes, the weird behaviour that my timing light shows results indeed in scatter on the timing mark on the pulley.

[Ethel]

1098 is a-series not a+, but you’re right. The engine will certainly run but it can’t be ideal

There was a 1098 A+, but only in the last few Clubman Estates, so very rare. You could also rebuild a 1098 with an A+ block.