I'm new here and don't know if I'm
posting this properly, etc., and I've
written a small book here, so forgive me
if I've done it wrong...
My neighbor asked for my help with a
recently purchased Jubilee, it was
getting harder and harder to start and
running quite poorly once it did. The
fuel filters were clogged and the carb
was dirty...preventative maintenance had
long been neglected and it has a number
of issues throughout. Well, after the
the fuel and carb system was cleaned, it
still suffered the hard start problems
to the point that it was obvious to me
that something was still not right. And
i could tell even though the carb was
dialed-in good something else (like the
timing) was preventing it from being
perfect: it required such a rich mixture
to hold an idle that it led to fouling
plugs after maybe 3-5 minutes of idling.
I had noticed early that the rotor had
excessive play which prevented it from
indexing correctly and had gotten a
replacement thinking it was the rotor
itself was what was worn. Not so: the
new rotor had all that slop also, so i
thought maybe that's how it was supposed
to be (for reasons unknown) and went
back to focusing more on the carb's
missing poppet valve spring and maybe a
leaking gasket causing a vacuum leak.
When I eventually broke the old gasket
on the bowl he purchased a complete carb
kit and went back through it all again.
Now, even with the poppet valve working
properly, there was no significant
improvement to the cold start problem!
From there I've gotten back to this
rotor-index and all that play it has...I
did an experiment using a JB weld
plastic glue to situate the rotor in a
position close to original. It fired
right up with almost instantly with no
effort and pretty well purrs like the
proverbial kitten AS LONG AS IT'S KEPT
AT LOW THROTTLE (idle). Go past that and
she's spitting and choking and totally
unable to lift her head up. It was just
an experiment and not precisely done, so
I removed the rotor and cleaned off the
epoxy within a few hours while it was
still going to be expectable to do.
So I am left to think that (1) that slop
isn't normal, (2) someone went and
retarded the timing to compensate for
the slop, (3) the carb has to be run
rich in order to insure there's enough
fuel still available when the plug does
spark, and (4), my mechanical advance
can't adjust to accommodate higher
rpm's.
The play in rotor travel is close to
1/2" total, and I'm confused about
whether there's supposed to be some kind
of metal clip sitting over the shaft
that would take up that takes up the
extra space or if it has just worn down
after all these years. I know the
distributor needs a new bushing(s?), but
before I spend anymore of my neighbor's
money I'd appreciate some input on my
situation so I can get it "fixed" and
can move on to hydraulic issues. Finding
a mystery clip that goes on there would
surely be cheaper than buying a shaft!
Also, I have little knowledge and
experience with distributors and spark
advance mechanisms, I'm just flying on
observation and common sense when I've
been studying the problem, so I really
don't know if it's been advanced,
retarded or what condition my indexing
it closer to center created. All I
really do know is that she started right
up when the rotor was indexed (advanced)
to the shafts locating flat.
I really believe the carb is clean and
operating properly, but it's easy to
pull and check so I'll do that while
waiting for someone with some expertise
to respond. Thank you in advance!
posting this properly, etc., and I've
written a small book here, so forgive me
if I've done it wrong...
My neighbor asked for my help with a
recently purchased Jubilee, it was
getting harder and harder to start and
running quite poorly once it did. The
fuel filters were clogged and the carb
was dirty...preventative maintenance had
long been neglected and it has a number
of issues throughout. Well, after the
the fuel and carb system was cleaned, it
still suffered the hard start problems
to the point that it was obvious to me
that something was still not right. And
i could tell even though the carb was
dialed-in good something else (like the
timing) was preventing it from being
perfect: it required such a rich mixture
to hold an idle that it led to fouling
plugs after maybe 3-5 minutes of idling.
I had noticed early that the rotor had
excessive play which prevented it from
indexing correctly and had gotten a
replacement thinking it was the rotor
itself was what was worn. Not so: the
new rotor had all that slop also, so i
thought maybe that's how it was supposed
to be (for reasons unknown) and went
back to focusing more on the carb's
missing poppet valve spring and maybe a
leaking gasket causing a vacuum leak.
When I eventually broke the old gasket
on the bowl he purchased a complete carb
kit and went back through it all again.
Now, even with the poppet valve working
properly, there was no significant
improvement to the cold start problem!
From there I've gotten back to this
rotor-index and all that play it has...I
did an experiment using a JB weld
plastic glue to situate the rotor in a
position close to original. It fired
right up with almost instantly with no
effort and pretty well purrs like the
proverbial kitten AS LONG AS IT'S KEPT
AT LOW THROTTLE (idle). Go past that and
she's spitting and choking and totally
unable to lift her head up. It was just
an experiment and not precisely done, so
I removed the rotor and cleaned off the
epoxy within a few hours while it was
still going to be expectable to do.
So I am left to think that (1) that slop
isn't normal, (2) someone went and
retarded the timing to compensate for
the slop, (3) the carb has to be run
rich in order to insure there's enough
fuel still available when the plug does
spark, and (4), my mechanical advance
can't adjust to accommodate higher
rpm's.
The play in rotor travel is close to
1/2" total, and I'm confused about
whether there's supposed to be some kind
of metal clip sitting over the shaft
that would take up that takes up the
extra space or if it has just worn down
after all these years. I know the
distributor needs a new bushing(s?), but
before I spend anymore of my neighbor's
money I'd appreciate some input on my
situation so I can get it "fixed" and
can move on to hydraulic issues. Finding
a mystery clip that goes on there would
surely be cheaper than buying a shaft!
Also, I have little knowledge and
experience with distributors and spark
advance mechanisms, I'm just flying on
observation and common sense when I've
been studying the problem, so I really
don't know if it's been advanced,
retarded or what condition my indexing
it closer to center created. All I
really do know is that she started right
up when the rotor was indexed (advanced)
to the shafts locating flat.
I really believe the carb is clean and
operating properly, but it's easy to
pull and check so I'll do that while
waiting for someone with some expertise
to respond. Thank you in advance!