Pinto Car Club of America

Hello all I have a quick question. I got a 78 Pinto 2.3L that is running for the first time, and I'm noticing it's missing somewhat & running a little rough.. I know the engine is bad, but I want to check my ignition system compnents to make sure all is good. I found out everything is ok, but I can't figure out how to check the vacuum advance on the distributor. How can I do that & are there any specs on it?

You may find the easiest way to do this is take it to a lic. mechanic. There is a vacuum pump tool you use to calibrate it. If you want the cheap method just to see if the vacuum adv. works, go to the local parts store and buy ten feet of the propper size vacuum line to hook to your distributor. Take your dist. cap off, get a buddy's vehicle, hook your new hose to a vacuum source on the manifold and then hook up your dist. When you hook the hose up, the breaker plate/pick-up plate will move toward the vacuum pot, when you take the hose off the plate moves away.

Vacuum advance really only effects timing at cruise rpm and idle under no load. even if it wasn't working you wouldn't notice any power difference at full throttle or accelerating. Pinch the hose off at an idle with needle nose when the engine is at full operating temp (Some have a valve that will not even allow vacuum to get to the dist until the car is warmed up) if there is a vacuum present at the hose then the engine rpm will drop when the hose is pinched.

Thanx for the info... I'll keep that in mind.. All my other cars had electronic advance, so all this was new to me.