MKIII Golf HELP! position of plug leads on distributor cap???

[shagi101]

fOLKS!, Im new to all this forum business, and ive got a big problem. im a rookie car DIY guy, while replacing the dizzy cap and rotor arm ( on a MK3 GOLF 1.4) i managed to split the dizzy cap in to 4 parts. (i just couldnt get it to fit snugly) , and now ive lost the position of the plugs on the end of the cap.

does any one know what lead goes where on the cap?

ive wired it up incorrectly, so the car is not starting properly at the moment, ive read something about the rotor arm and timing??? have i messsed the timing up by trying to turn the engine? or will all be fine if i manage to fit the leads in to the correct position?

any advice will be appreciated.

[Col]

Ha ha ha .... we've all done this at some point or another.

What you need to do is...

1, Find TDC (top dead centre) for cylinder number 1. Easiest way to do this is to get the car on level ground, put it in 5th gear, handbrake off and pull / rock the car forwards. You are looking to line up the timing dot on the crank pulley to the notch on the cover. At the same time observe which direction the rotor arm turns as well i.e. clock or anti-clock wise.

2, Once you have found TDC, look where the rotor arm is pointing and that will be towards plug number one.

3, Now assuming the firing order is 1-3-4-2 and Nr 1 cylinder is at the opposite end to the gearbox, you should be able to work out what goes where.

4, Look at the rotor arm position as you have set up the timing, fit the cap then fit the lead to Nr1 cylinder. Fit the other leads as above.



Also, a good thing to do would be to get yourself a Haynes Manual, this will help a lot in you obtaining TDC, has lots of piccies etc etc.

[shagi101]

Cheers for that BigCol. i understand the firing order now, and how this should be implemented on the dizzy cap. but the question i have is, does the rotor arm always stop at the same position(ie plug 1)? or does it stop and pointi at any plug when the engine is switched off?

i ask, coz bofore i messed by the plug sequence i relaced the rotor arm and saw the direction it was pointing in, after switcing the engine on later and taking the dizzy cap of i notice that the rotor arm had stopeed at a different location. i just hope this is normal.

oh and i do have a haynes, but its diagrams are really crappy. cheers.

[Col]

The rotor arm will stop randomly in any position hence why you need to find TDC on cylinder Nr 1 by putting it in 5th gear and pulling / rocking the car forward.

Once you have found TDC, you know where the rotor points to on Nr.1 and will then be able to work out where the other leads go.

You must also work out / observe whilst pulling the car forward, the direction of rotation of the rotor arm i.e. clock or anti-clock wise.

I have assumed the firing order to be 1-3-4-2 as this is the most common set up on all 4 cyl cars.

The Haynes should tell you the firing order and hopefully the rotastion direction of the dizzy. It should also help you find TDC on number 1 cyl.


Note: It is easy to get things 180 degrees out with it being a four stroke engine so if it still doesn't work despite you thinking everyhing is spot on, simply rotate the engine one turn (to bring the timing back to TDC on the compression stroke for Nr1 and then look at the rotor again.

It sounds difficult but once you grasp the concepts it is easy, don't give up.

[shagi101]

lovely, seeming as your on fire i hope you dont mind me askin you another question.

during my trial and error process trying plug leads on different positions of the end cap, i tried to switch the engine on, but as the order was wrong it did not work. i did this twice, and on the second attempt, (where i still had the wrong sequence of firing) while trying to turn the key, my car gave the loudest bang ever comming from engine some where.

at this point i was bricking it and couldnt figure out what was going on, so I left it. was that lound bang, wat is know as "misfire"? and have i done any damage to the engine by trying to switch it on with incorrect firing? the noise was like a firework in the engine.

thanks.

[Col]

Yep, backfire, wouldn't worry about it.

Bet woke up the old people !

[shagi101]

Hey guys, i found a picture i took of the engine bay a few monts ago and i was able to trace the positon plug 1, 2 and so on on the diz cap.

I am 100% sure that I have copied the exact formation of the plugs from my old picture. I thought it will save the hassel of getting the TDC, which to tell you the truth sounds too advanced for me. Any way the car now start but the engine runs very very ruff. I kept the engine running for a while, but it still running like an old lady, no power at all and a lot fo juddering.

Any ideas on what could have gone wrong? have i messed something up?, i mean following the picture evry thing should go back to normal right?

thnks.

[Col]

Any ideas on what could have gone wrong? have i messed something up?, i mean following the picture evry thing should go back to normal right?

thnks.

....Errr !!!

Check the plug leads on the dizzy cap.

Sounds like you have 2 right and 2 wrong.

[shagi101]

oops! youre very right. i had plugs 2 and 3 in the wrong places. I swapped them about an hour ago and had a 20 mins ride, and the car does run better. But it is still juddering,and isnt as nippy as before!
and there is also a very annoying squaking sound comming from the dizzy cap, could that be the new rotor arm?

look at whats happened to me by replacing something that didnt need replacing. thnks for all your help BigCol. im going to replace the plug leads 2moro, and if that doesnt help the juddering im giving up! but i wont be able to live with the squeaking, and i dont want to replace the whole dizzy for the bearings.

[shagi101]

Hello to evry one whos reading this, i finally got round to buyign and fiting some new pulg leads 2nite, and also got a new distrbutor cap. and its seems to be runing much much better.

tough the car idles a bit higher than before, it use to idle at 780, now it idles at 900. dont know what that means, but its happening.

also when i took out the old leads and cap, i noticed on three of the cap ends and the plug ends
(that connect to each other) there was some oily/gudngy substance - just on the tip of the metal connector of the cap. what does this mean?


and way, since the initial mishap with damaging the cap, and then forgetting the firing order the car had been drinking like a alcy! i m not terribly sure if the new leads and cap have made a difference, and from what i can see its still drinking like mad. but it is running better.

oh, also i think i brough the wrong dizzy cap, my original one has a metal sleve aroud it, and the new one i got has a black plastic sleve around it, and i it slightly shorter than my original one. does any one think this will be a problem? i means it seems to be doing the job, and does fit more sungly on the dizzy. But if i move the cap left/right i can feel the rotor arm inside touching the contacts. any help and advise will be much appreciated.

the annoying squeaking is still there, but less noticable now for sum reason.