Distributor rebuild options

[Drew20]

Looking on the forums Jeff at Advanced Distributors looks a good option for those based in the US. For the rest of us, in the UK, or Europe even, and is there a specialist in 70s Bosch distributors?

I noted yesterday that my vac advance is fubar, and the shaft has a lot of axial play. The timing light is actually quite steady, but the lack of any vac advance is an issue, and a full rebuild is needed I think

Or how hard is it to rebuild DIY? I saw a thread on 2002faq which made it look quite easy, so long as I can get the parts

W&N will sell me a vac unit, but would also need a rebuild kit. What's in a rebuild kit? Washers, bushings and bearings?

Any info welcome


From realoem:
12111353118 is the vac unit
12111353121 or 12111351441 is a repair kit for the vac unit
12118630245 is some kind of repair keep kit
12118630239 is a repair kit for the dizzy shaft

 

[Mike Goble]

$125 on Ebay -

Bosch BMW Distributor 0231169007 for various BMW 6 cyl 5 series & 2000/2500 3.2l | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bosch BMW Distributor 0231169007 for various BMW 6 cyl 5 series & 2000/2500 3.2l at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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[Stevehose]

123ignition?

 

[tferrer]

I had my Jag distributor rebuilt by Advanced Dist. It took a "while" to get the whole engine back together and up and running but when I finally did, it had a persistent miss on acceleration. By process of elimination, over a long year, the car had a miss that no matter what I did or changed, the miss persisted. At wits end I finally gave up and bought a 123 with Bluetooth. The miss was eradicated entirely to my intense happiness!

Mechanical distributors work most of the time but if there's an issue, it can be infuriating. Even with an expensive rebuild, mine wasn't working properly and it cost me time, money and lots of frustration before I realized I wasn't making progress and went with the 123 which I can now remap in a matter of minutes.

I would say go with a 123 and spend your time and effort on other projects.

My 2 cents...

 

[Gransin]

If I had any problems with my stock distributor I'd go with 123ignition.
Keep the stock distributor on the shelf for concourse events and maybe for when you sell it (if that would ever happen).
The 123 is the right choice if you aim to drive it, IMO.

http://123ignition.nl/products.phtml

 

[Drew20]

Hi, thanks for your suggestions. Should have shared more info earlier, my distributor is original but modified. Points look to have been replaced by a hall sender type pick up, I think.
Bosch part no. is 0231306001
I'll research the 123, my bias is to keep stock and rebuild. Will compare costs though

 

[Honolulu]

Axial play is common. The test is to use a timing light and see how much the flywheel ball jumps around at reasonable engine speeds. A friend once got a factory reman engine for his 2002 and the ball was rock steady, much unlike my old coupe.

The play comes from axial movement not keeping the camshaft gear that drives the diz, and the diz driven gear, in place. Also, the driving gear is brass and of course it wears, something that no distributor can compensate for. If you change the diz, be sure the cam gear is in good condition or your intended benefit may be lost to the play between gears.

 

[HB Chris]

Hi, thanks for your suggestions. Should have shared more info earlier, my distributor is original but modified. Points look to have been replaced by a hall sender type pick up, I think.
Bosch part no. is 0231306001
I'll research the 123, my bias is to keep stock and rebuild. Will compare costs though

Looks like Pertronix

 

[frogisland]

Any use to you? Looks to be working. Sucked on the line and it retracted the arm.

 

[Mike Goble]

Axial play is common.

As they say, axial results may vary...

 

[Drew20]

Any use to you? Looks to be working. Sucked on the line and it retracted the arm.

PM sent

 

[Drew20]

Axial play is common. The test is to use a timing light and see how much the flywheel ball jumps around at reasonable engine speeds. A friend once got a factory reman engine for his 2002 and the ball was rock steady, much unlike my old coupe.

The play comes from axial movement not keeping the camshaft gear that drives the diz, and the diz driven gear, in place. Also, the driving gear is brass and of course it wears, something that no distributor can compensate for. If you change the diz, be sure the cam gear is in good condition or your intended benefit may be lost to the play between gears.

Thanks, my issue is I'm a car hypochondriac!


Perhaps I should worry less

I think I have a NOS cam dizzy drive in my parts stash, I might look to fit that along with any new/refurbed dizzy

I fitted the chrome tailpipe trim you sent to me. Looks great, after its trip to Hawaii and back!

 

[Drew20]

Part number I had above for the vac said nit is wrong. Think the correct one is
12111355627
And it should have "435" on the actuator arm

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

BMW parts 2.5CS-3.0CSL 3.0CSi Distributor-single parts

www.realoem.com

I get mixed up in realoem, which parts are csi, csl or csil

 

[HB Chris]

Part number I had above for the vac said nit is wrong. Think the correct one is
12111355627
And it should have "435" on the actuator arm

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

BMW parts 2.5CS-3.0CSL 3.0CSi Distributor-single parts

www.realoem.com

I get mixed up in realoem, which parts are csi, csl or csil

When you go into RealOEM with your CSi search, just save that page so you always search CSi parts.

 

[Willem Tell]

A nice option to consider is to send your distributor body to 123ignition, and they will install their Bluetooth version in your distributor body. They clean it up and replace the bushings, so you get back a nicely rebuilt distributor with modern, programmable internals.
Here's how my Tii distributor turned out (they sent a 6-point cap by mistake, but sent a 4-point cap as a replacement):



Here is a write-up for a DIY on a 2002 distributor, which should be similar.

 

[Luis A.]

A nice option to consider is to send your distributor body to 123ignition, and they will install their Bluetooth version in your distributor body. They clean it up and replace the bushings, so you get back a nicely rebuilt distributor with modern, programmable internals.
Here's how my Tii distributor turned out (they sent a 6-point cap by mistake, but sent a 4-point cap as a replacement):
View attachment 89614View attachment 89615View attachment 89616View attachment 89617


Here is a write-up for a DIY on a 2002 distributor, which should be similar.

Nice. How much do they charge?

 

[sfdon]

Pardon me for interrupting- is this thread about a Csl ?

 

[Drew20]

Hi Don, yes it is a city pack CSL, and I think I know what you're about to say... it has no vac advance!
I was looking in detail at the dizzy this morning, and I noted the vac unit arm pulls the breaker plate clockwise, in the same direction as the rotor's rotation, so it acts only to retard the ignition.
Then I found this thread, where Don confirms it very succinctly

DIY - 123 Distributor Ignition Timing with Carburetors

I'm embarking into new territory regarding the potential of the 123 distributor that I think is being overlooked. I am no engine expert but from my research on the web (dangerous I know), that old school tuners used to set initial timing with a vacuum gauge and/or a "highest idle" procedure...

e9coupe.com

This is odd, as the owners manual (for a CS/CSi with the CSL supplement) defo refers to mech advance and vac advance for the d-jet cars. But no doubt about it, the vac unit retards only. I've never come across this before, but having read up a bit it looks to be an emissions thing, and doesn't affect performance.

So I think I have options:
1 Plug the hose (to plug the vac leak to the throttle body) and run the car with no retard. ie leave the timing as is at 22btdc, and drive at WOT as much as possible
2 Buy a new vac retard unit to get things to factory spec + Petronix
3 invest in a 123 dizzy, not cheap but not outrageous either

I'm thinking about option 1 for now, as I've no real running issues. I don't have the idle I think I deserve, but it's not bad
The vac retard unit can be had for less than £100, and if I do that I'll also fit a new brass pinion gear to remove the axial slop.
Thanks loads all. I've learnt a lot about my car in this thread

 

[Stevehose]

Don't use vacuum retard, it was an emissions bandaid to get your engine to run hoter at idle in order to pass inspection.

 

[sfdon]

The vacuum at the Throttle Body is ported- vacuum is only present at idle.

How would you use a 123 distributor?

Is there a 123 dizzy with tripping contacts?

https://www.wallothnesch.com/ausloe...0-si-wird-1x-pro-auto-benoetigt-12-05-08.html