Hi,

Next weekend, with a help of a friend, I plan to replace spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor and the famous “Green Wire”!
I’m planning in replacing the green wire without removing the distributor or, at least, without lifting it up, but only releasing the adjustment screw and rotating it clockwise to have access to the screw that holds the metal part that holds the green wire plug.
I know I must mark the hold down screw location but what about the rotor? Is it necessary to pay attention to its position? If I only rotate the distributor even if the rotor moves, when I rotate it back to the original position wouldn’t it also go back there?
And when replacing the rotor, wouldn’t it “plug” only in one position?
My car as single distributor and the rotor that "cuts" at 6500rpm.
I’ve used “search” and there are a lot of posts about the green wire replacement, but there are so many ways to access that green wire screw, like removing the distributor completely, lifting it up, use a right angle screw driver, etc, that I get confused about the movement of the rotor.
Sorry for my English and thanks for your help!

Regards

 

If all you do is turn the distributor, you'll be fine. If you lift up the distributor then the gears between the rotor shaft and the cam can become separated. If that happens there will be near 8 ways to put it back.

Mark the position of the distributor in some way such as scratching two marks with a file. It is very sensitive to rotational position. Better yet, get a timing light and re-set the timing when you're done.

 

better yet set the engine at TDC and then the distributor rotor should line up with the small cut in the distributor housing, then you take out the distributor and fix it then install it so the rotor lines back up with the cut

 

I just replaced the green wire last weekend (Thank you Roger!). It is not difficult at all but I removed the distributor. Just turning the distributor I think would still be pretty awkward. Mark the distributor and the block and replace it exactly in the same position. Mark the dist with a little tick to show where the rotor is pointing. Lets you clean things up a little too! Also compare the old dist connection to the new one. My new wire had a small spacer at the dist plug-in end that I had to cut off with snips so it would fit the same way as the original one did.

 

Better yet - advance your timing a couple degrees. I have my 84S ~31 at 3,000 RPMs w/ the vacuum hose disconnected. It REALLY came to life! I've read the factory setting was de-tuned for emissions in the early 80s... I'm a believer. Good luck!

 

I've done this as well and have tuned it on a dyno for max power along with tweaking the mixture. I thought to suggest it but demurred as it changes the idle speed and can affect how the decelleration valve works. Also boosts operating temp. Sure, you can tweak the idle valve and disconnect the decel valve. But there are problems with that, too.

Just set it to stock and get back to us if you think 300BHP isn't enough. Porsche engineers are pretty smart.

 

Hi,

Well, all the work done! Spark plugs (WR7DC), plug wires (Porsche), distributor cap (Porsche), distributor rotor (Porsche) and green wire (Porsche, of course…).
The car feels a lot smother, a more stable idle but…
The “bucking” at low rpm, between 1000 and 2000 still there!
The car it’s almost impossible to drive in this range of rpm because it starts pulling and pushing back and forward, not the engine missing or failing, it’s the entire car that does this.
If I keep it above 2000rpm, it’s perfect!
If I give it gas it has no hesitation, the power is all there!
Besides all that I’ve done last weekend, it has also new air and fuel filters changed last month.
Today I’ve let the car in a official Bosch shop, so they tune the K-Jetronic and all the stuff related. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, I honestly don’t know what to do next….

Regards

 

Ricardo it will

 

Hi,

Colin, thanks for the words of encouragement!
In fact, the supervisor of the Bosch shop has a lot of experience with almost all the Bosch injections; he worked with a lot of K-Jet’s in the 80’s, particularly in Mercedes. It’s a guy that inspires a lot of confidence, when he talks he knows what’s talking about.
He is a friend of a friend of mine, he will keep the car during the weekend to work on it with the shop doors closed to the public, so he can “concentrate” in what he is doing!
It’s really frustrating that behaviour of the car! It’s all working so fine, no electrical gremlins, all the power is there, gearbox ok, clutch ok, TB and WP just replaced 6 months ago and re-checked last month and re-tensioned, the car seems to be a 5 year old car, not a 26 year old!
Well, I keep my fingers crossed...

Regards

 

CIS(K-Jet) injection systems are very sensitive to vacuum leaks. When I bought my car it had similar symptoms. Among the many other vac leaks, the gasket between the upper and lower sections of the "U" shaped plenum(between the air plate and the throttle body) had completely deteriorated; parts of it were missing!

 

Hi,

Dave, thanks for your help
But a vacuum leak wouldn’t affect idle, making it high or, at least, irregular?
My idle is very very stable at normal operating temperature, at 750rpm, and about 1000rpm when cold.
I’ve tried to check for vacuum leaks but only where I can reach, re-attaching some screws here and there. Is there a way to pressurize ALL the system to check for even the smallest vacuum leak?
Thanks.

Regards

 

If the vacuum leaks are small enough the idle screw can be cranked far enough to compensate.

I have had great success finding vacuum leaks with the "smoke" method. There is a $1,000 machine that does this but the <$10 approach pictured below worked for me. I lit the cig, screwed it together, and put the hose on the large line on the plenum for the brake booster. I then put my rubber-tipped air gun on the hole in the side of the bottle with the pressure dialed way down to ~5psi, and pumped smoke into the manifold. These are American Spirit cigs, good for 10-15 seconds of smoke. The type with the hundreds of chemicals added would probably burn up a lot quicker.

It worked well enough to highlight a vac leak at the temp valve for the EGR, back near the heater valve.

 

I have only one word for this.

McGyver

 

Great idea, Dave. Thanks.

I'm guessing one of these would work, too.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...o?itemid=66418

ww

 

I guess I'll take that as a compliment -- though I was running around with a Swiss Army knife in my pocket "McGyvering" stuff years before the show aired. He's the impostor.

Not sure where you'd put the cig in that setup. Are you just looking for a substitute for an air compressor? If so that might work. You can make the smoke generator part out of any plastic bottle, preferably one with a wide cap.