924Board.org

[CorsePerVita]

Well, i've had some odd intermittent firing and missing issues. As well as difficulty starting my race project lately. Upon inspecting it I found that the magnet inside had actually broken a chunk OFF inside. I have no idea how. I checked for off balance rotation and it seems smooth and perfectly fine. Very odd.

I gutted out a second distributor and took the magnet apart and put it inside the distributor. It ran great for about 30 seconds, then started to miss and stopped firing. It as well busted in the same spot, strangely enough.

I am absolutely baffled as to what may either be:

- Causing them to break
- Or if they were both just bad and worn and old to begin with

I'm unaware of any "electrical issues" that could cause the magnets to break. I doublechecked all my wiring. It's all great and checks out fine.

Pure coincidence? Old magnets? They did look sort of "spread" and "cracked" a little in the middle which makes me think they were just old parts and the rattling of the engine is enough to break it finally. Although 2 in one day? That seems odd... correlation isn't always causation. Ideas and suggestions for alternatives are of course open.

Is there an alternative to this setup? Something else I can do here?

Part of me wants to do a trigger wheel and a hall sensor pickup. The other part of me for simplicity sake wants to just replace the magnet. However, cheapest quote I've had is $60+ for a new one. I can do a trigger wheel + hall pickup for about the same amount.

So yeah I'm not really sure, sort of torn. Although if I replace the magnet, it makes me wonder: Will it just break again? Is there something obvious that could break them?
_________________
- 1977 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (Trackday Project)
- 1979 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (The other daily)
- 1980 Porsche 931 (Daily)
- 1987 Lamborghini Jalpa
- 1999 Ducati 900SS

[Fifty50Plus]

Maybe I'm too old school, but I have no idea what you mean by "magnet" in the distributor. Rotor, points, hall pickup, what?? Pics available?
Sorry for being obtuse,
Chuck
_________________
1979 924 NA race car H-Prod SCCA
1982 924 NA race car - Sold
1981 924 Turbo sold
1982 924 Turbo sold
1972 911 E race car - traded for Cayenne Diesel
1975 914 1.8 Building for H-Prod SCCA

[CorsePerVita]

The magnetic pickup that screws to the coil itself.

_________________
- 1977 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (Trackday Project)
- 1979 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (The other daily)
- 1980 Porsche 931 (Daily)
- 1987 Lamborghini Jalpa
- 1999 Ducati 900SS

[ksis]

over tightening or flexing of the plates it the only way for it to crack. Have you tired to replace it and epoxy it back in place? May have to check mine also.....
_________________
77 924
64 Spitfire
76 TR6
04 Jetta
77 Schwinn Scrambler
Awsome pair of Chucks

http://www.cardomain.com/id/ksiskin

[CorsePerVita]

[Fifty50Plus]

Ah, now I get it. Thanks for the pic. I've always used optical guts if I didn't have points in a dizzy.
_________________
1979 924 NA race car H-Prod SCCA
1982 924 NA race car - Sold
1981 924 Turbo sold
1982 924 Turbo sold
1972 911 E race car - traded for Cayenne Diesel
1975 914 1.8 Building for H-Prod SCCA

[CorsePerVita]

[Fifty50Plus]

[ksis]

look up Petronix or Crane Cams Fireball 3000. They are electronic ignitions systems. I will stand by the Crane Cams version. I ran them in my MG, Spitfire, TR6 and my bug. Yo can epoxy the magnet and it won't change the polarity.
_________________
77 924
64 Spitfire
76 TR6
04 Jetta
77 Schwinn Scrambler
Awsome pair of Chucks

http://www.cardomain.com/id/ksiskin

[ksis]

look up Petronix or Crane Cams Fireball 3000. They are electronic ignitions systems. I will stand by the Crane Cams version. I ran them in my MG, Spitfire, TR6 and my bug. Yo can epoxy the magnet and it won't change the polarity.
_________________
77 924
64 Spitfire
76 TR6
04 Jetta
77 Schwinn Scrambler
Awsome pair of Chucks

http://www.cardomain.com/id/ksiskin

[Rasta Monsta]

[CorsePerVita]

I will look into petronix and an igniter and see if this is a feasible alternative. I need to understand why it broke the magnet first as I do not want to buy and break a petronix.
_________________
- 1977 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (Trackday Project)
- 1979 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (The other daily)
- 1980 Porsche 931 (Daily)
- 1987 Lamborghini Jalpa
- 1999 Ducati 900SS

[CorsePerVita]

There is nothing I hate more than when people find a solution or their problem and never follow up in a thread since others may encounter the same issue. So just to ensure I don't end up being "That guy" I figured I'd share the issue.

The screws that I installed the distributor with were too long. I'm uncertain how I mixed them up. The distributor screws that mount the innards are generally shorter and only go into the actual distributor parts.

Upon inspecting the magnet for the "interference" I noticed a pattern on both distributor magnets breaking in the same spot. I also noticed a glossy imprint where the screw goes in, and an obvious indicator that the screw had pushed the magnet apart and literally broke it in half.

So be absolutely certain when you reinstall or rebuild your distributor that you use the proper screws with proper lengths. Ensure that you are not installing screws too long that could push or break the magnet. That is exactly what happened and why I went through 2 magnets. I'm a tad upset that I ruined 2 perfectly good magnets in the pickup portion of the setup, but now I know and learned.

Just sharing "for future reference"...
_________________
- 1977 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (Trackday Project)
- 1979 Porsche 924 2.0 N/A (The other daily)
- 1980 Porsche 931 (Daily)
- 1987 Lamborghini Jalpa
- 1999 Ducati 900SS