3 replies to this topic

[mk=john]

Hi

I just done a 3000 mile service on my Mk1 Mini Cooper. It has a 998 engine with twin HS2 Carbs. Anyway, on inspection, I found that there was sideways play in the distributor shaft. This was slight. There was however a little brass/aluminium dust in the distributor cap.
Do I need a new distributor, or is there some other way I could run with the one I have?

I was looking at Minispares, and I saw this distributor:
http://www.minispare....aspx?pid=34708

Is it the right one for my car? How easy is it to fit and set up? Should I take it to a rolling road and let them do it? I have not done this before.

Thanks

[m1n1]

I like the 25d, its a very good distributor. Yes the bearing does wear out and eventually lead to side play in the shaft; which can alter the dwell angle a little (amount of time points are open) when the engine is reved. You can have a little, but not excessive side play. Mine is on its way out, but for now it will live a bit longer. The dust is just probably corrosion so i wouldn't worry about it all dizzys get that during use.

That minispares unit looks good to me; but then all 25d's are mostly the same its just the internal springs/weights which are changed to suit a particular type of vehicle.

[dklawson]

John, I agree with M1n1 that the 25D series is very good. My car came with the 23D variant (no vacuum advance). I offer the following suggestions.

1) Buy a used 25D from any source you can where you can verify the amount of play in the shaft. ANY source, ANY 25D. Don't worry about the number or application matching yours. Once you buy the unit with the good bearings, carefully disassemble and clean it. When you reassemble it, use the cam, springs, and bob weights from your old distributor. This will give you the same advance characteristics (less the wear induced scatter) as the distributor that was in the car when you bought it. If you're really industrious you could re-stamp the 5 digit number on the dizzy housing to match your old distributor.
2) Buy and install an Ignitor module. You'll loose originality but the module can work with a fairly worn distributor. However, you'll probably still want to disassemble the dizzy far enough to re-lube the bushings a bit.

The brass and aluminum dust probably aren't from the bushings themselves. They are probably the result of the rotor traveling in an elliptical kind of path and beating the dickens out of the dizzy cap and the tip of the rotor. If you don't address the dizzy problem, you're at least going to need to regularly remove the cap and wipe this dust off the inside to prevent the possibility arc/tracking inside.

[mk=john]

Thanks Guys

I will look at getting a 25D sometime this week, and after I fit it and get it timed, will go to a really good rolling road in West London. Just to make sure all is well, and give the car a complete tune up including carbs etc.

Thanks for the help

John