Duh..Duh..DUCELLIER!

S

Stuey

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I've just had a flyweight in my Ducellier distributor (2388A R248 C34) in the R12 come adrift for the second time. This time it wore a deep groove inside the casting. Anyway, in the process of dismantling etc., I didn't notice which weight had the stronger spring - the heavy weight or the lighter weight. Goose. :eek:

Does anyone know? I assume this affects the advance curve significantly. I've put the stronger spring on the heavier weight, as you'd expect, but I'm not sure... Also, anyone know where I can get a detailed diagram for it? I've got a feeling there might be some parts missing, hence the failure. I know part of the problem is wear in the pivot of the weight, which I'm going to braze up and re-drill. The Haynes manual has a reasonably detailed diagram, but not detailed enough.

Incidentally, I noticed in the process that the vacuum advance diaphragm wasn't working even slightly, so installed a spare I had. I took the old diaphragm apart (using a bench grinder round the edge) and lo an behold, the diapragm had never worked - it wasn't round, but had a flat part across one side, and had been made like this. Weird. So the car has sucked air through this for the whole time I've owned it.

And the spare dizzy I pillaged the diaphragm from had the flyweights modified to prevent the problem mine had. Must be a common failure.

Any help would be much appreciated! :p

Cheers

Stuey
 
Yep, flying bobweights are a common Ducellier problem. The plastic bush lets go and then they start carving their way out.

Mine was rebuilt 17 years and 230,000k's ago with brass bushes and hasn't been touched since.

I can't remember which spring goes where, but I'll look at mine and report back. How detailed do you want the diagram? Will one out of the 12 parts catalogue do? I'll scan it and send it.

Perforated vacuum advances also seem common, I check mine every so often by sucking on the vacuum tube to see if the revs alter. Also check for wear in the bushes by wobbling the spindle, the little felt pad under the rotor arm should get the occasional drop of oil. I think Caravelle may have new Ducellier dizzy's in stock to suit 12's, so they may be worth a call.

Simon
 
Thanks for the reply, Simon, you're a diamond. Yes, 'bobweights', I couldn't remember what they were called, so I named them after my favourite boxing category :eek:

Where are the plastic bushes? The only bushes in mine, at least in the advance assembly, is like a roller type affair that connects the bobweight to the curved slot, held by a C clip. HOWEVER, the spare I have has home made steel spacers (look like bushes) placed under the bobweight pivot to raise this so the weights are horizontal. Maybe these were made to replace the bushes you mention? On mine, the weights have nothing underneath them on this pivot. Hope you know what I mean.

I wanted the diagram because I thought there MUST be something missing - it couldn't be designed like this. Sounds like the case. I'd really appreciate a scan of the parts cat. page, if that's no trouble.

I called Caravelle - they haven't got any distributors, but they are on order, for around $185. As for the diaphragm, when I sucked my old one there was no vacuum at all, hence my curiousity and dismantling. The diaphragm looked like someone had snipped across one 'side', about 3 mm in, with scissors on the assembly line. A clean cut. Bizarre.

I'm pretty meticulous with stuff like oiling the felt. Acually, I removed the shaft and there was absolutely no play in any of the bushes. Is this shaft greased, or does it get oil while running? I saw the oil spiral near the top bush.

Finally, how do you set up the vacuum advance lever, with that toothed cam arrangement?

Sorry about the long post, and so many questions...

Thanks again Simon.

Stuey
 
Hey Simon, just figured that the springs work between the bottom assembly, and the cam plate, together, (not the weights), so it doesn't matter which goes where. Excuse for not figuring this out : I was in a huge hurry to get it back together :eek:

Still wouldn't mind the catalogue scan for the bush problem. Thanks.

Stuey
 
Stuey:
Where are the plastic bushes?

Finally, how do you set up the vacuum advance lever, with that toothed cam arrangement?

Stuey
Click to expand...
The scans should have arived by now so hopefully that explains the bulk of your previous message.

As for setting up the vacuum advance that is something that has to be done by a workshop with the proper calibration whizzy thing for the distributor.

Simon
 
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