[T3] Distributor Ailments

[Jim Adney]

On 4 Oct 2013 at 11:00, J. Jonik wrote:

> If a temporary short in trigger contacts damaged the control box...what would be symptoms of that damage?  Would it just be bad performance, or wouldn't car work at all?

I would expect it to either cause a problem only while it was shorted 
out, or to damage the brain and keep it from running at all, ever.

> - This is second time ever that that little tab broke from metal
> fatigue.  First time, many years ago, way up in New England on snowy
> Interstate...I limped to a rest stop restaurant and, using a small bit
> of springy (not bendy) wire, made a replacement...not one that would
> hold the little ball, but one that smoothly just touched the plate to
> keep it in position while allowing it to rotate properly.  It was
> attached with the little screw in its proper place.    It worked
> flawlessly all the way back to Philly. 

Nice fix! But it seems really odd that this would happen to you 
twice. I don't know how many dists have passed thru my hands, and 
I've never seen that part broken.... I wonder if you're doing 
something that puts more than the usual stress on it. When you 
tighten the little screw, you don't have to press it down very hard, 
just enough that there's a little pressure there at all times.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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