Davemc1963
93 Ty Owner
I'm posting this to try and help anyone with this and tell them what I had and what I did to fix it. Its a little drawn out, (yawn) but lets you know what I did.
My original problem didnt start as tach flutter, but I got a severe case of it on the way.
My original problem was slow-ish cranking and slow starting, and below par performance. but with no noticeable tach flutter at this point.
I took the Ty off the road to fix a few things. MSD cap, rotor and plug wires, silicon vacuum hoses and front energy suspension front arm bushes to name a few. It was off the road for several weeks.
The distributor cap was toast, the central carbon brush was non existent, and I noticed rust in and around the reluctor and pick up coil area, so I attempted to clean this up as best I could. Nothing too drastic though. However, I couldn't get it to start after I had finished the work. I eventually fried the starter. Unbeknown to me, the solenoid terminal from the battery wasn't tight and it went up in smoke. New starter fitted, and eventually started but with major tach flutter and running poorly. Sometimes Ok, then it would belch out black smoke and run very rich, then Ok again. Nothing obvious on the diacom, just lean, then rich. At first I thought bloody plug wires, even though I had checked their resistance before fitting them. put old ones back, no difference. Maybe coil or MAP sensor had gone bad after I fried the old starter. But I was still getting a spark. I checked the timing and it seemed to be a bit inconsistant. I was getting pretty desperate at this point, thinking ECU damage again from the fried starter I had also had the ECU out to verify that I had a standard chip fitted. I decided to check the wiring from the ECU, I belled out all the ECU wires to MAP, TP sensor and dissy. All had good continuity. Reseated the Prom. Checked out the pick up coil and module and they all seemed to check out OK. I felt under the distributor reluctor and a small thin piece of cast iron/steel came off in my fingers. The reluctor was actually cracked in three places. The magnet in the shaft was also cracked. I hadn't noticed this! Its not the easiest place to see on these things is it? There was a bit of rust around there though. I dont know if the cracked magnet under the rotor arm would have mattered in the big scheme of things, maybe someone else will know this if you find the same.
I decided on a new MSD billet replacement from summit. I also changed the coil for a new Summit brand one, but I have no reason to believe the coil was to blame. I just fitted it at the same time. It fired right up, Tach flutter down to just a small flicker. I then cleaned and remade the earths on the rear of the drivers side cylinder head, there are two (14mm spanner). I also ran a couple of extra earths from these, because I believe this to be a problem area. One to the alternator bracket and one direct to the battery. You may not have to do this, I did it for insurance. Hey presto ZERO tach flutter. I was made up. Running again and no tach flutter. So, although I cant be sure if a new distributor is required for all tach flutter problems, or just the earths at the rear of the L/H cyl head. But My distributor reluctor was actually in three pieces. I dont really know the cause of this, but there was a fair bit of rust in there. The engine ran reasonably before, it just went flat at higher rpm. At this time, I have only had the Ty out once, and I have a few more things to sort out, but it is much improved and the tach flutter is gone. On the plus side, the engine now fires up practically immediately. Little to no cranking required.
I realise this is a little long, but I thought it necessary to let you know what I did. I was pulling my hair out searching for posts on what to check for. The stock distributor when out looks like the flimsiest POS you have ever seen compared to the MSD one. At least I can make an oil pump primer out of it!
Oh by the way, to get to the earths, you need to remove the drivers side inner fender.
I hope this helps someone.
My original problem didnt start as tach flutter, but I got a severe case of it on the way.
My original problem was slow-ish cranking and slow starting, and below par performance. but with no noticeable tach flutter at this point.
I took the Ty off the road to fix a few things. MSD cap, rotor and plug wires, silicon vacuum hoses and front energy suspension front arm bushes to name a few. It was off the road for several weeks.
The distributor cap was toast, the central carbon brush was non existent, and I noticed rust in and around the reluctor and pick up coil area, so I attempted to clean this up as best I could. Nothing too drastic though. However, I couldn't get it to start after I had finished the work. I eventually fried the starter. Unbeknown to me, the solenoid terminal from the battery wasn't tight and it went up in smoke. New starter fitted, and eventually started but with major tach flutter and running poorly. Sometimes Ok, then it would belch out black smoke and run very rich, then Ok again. Nothing obvious on the diacom, just lean, then rich. At first I thought bloody plug wires, even though I had checked their resistance before fitting them. put old ones back, no difference. Maybe coil or MAP sensor had gone bad after I fried the old starter. But I was still getting a spark. I checked the timing and it seemed to be a bit inconsistant. I was getting pretty desperate at this point, thinking ECU damage again from the fried starter I had also had the ECU out to verify that I had a standard chip fitted. I decided to check the wiring from the ECU, I belled out all the ECU wires to MAP, TP sensor and dissy. All had good continuity. Reseated the Prom. Checked out the pick up coil and module and they all seemed to check out OK. I felt under the distributor reluctor and a small thin piece of cast iron/steel came off in my fingers. The reluctor was actually cracked in three places. The magnet in the shaft was also cracked. I hadn't noticed this! Its not the easiest place to see on these things is it? There was a bit of rust around there though. I dont know if the cracked magnet under the rotor arm would have mattered in the big scheme of things, maybe someone else will know this if you find the same.
I decided on a new MSD billet replacement from summit. I also changed the coil for a new Summit brand one, but I have no reason to believe the coil was to blame. I just fitted it at the same time. It fired right up, Tach flutter down to just a small flicker. I then cleaned and remade the earths on the rear of the drivers side cylinder head, there are two (14mm spanner). I also ran a couple of extra earths from these, because I believe this to be a problem area. One to the alternator bracket and one direct to the battery. You may not have to do this, I did it for insurance. Hey presto ZERO tach flutter. I was made up. Running again and no tach flutter. So, although I cant be sure if a new distributor is required for all tach flutter problems, or just the earths at the rear of the L/H cyl head. But My distributor reluctor was actually in three pieces. I dont really know the cause of this, but there was a fair bit of rust in there. The engine ran reasonably before, it just went flat at higher rpm. At this time, I have only had the Ty out once, and I have a few more things to sort out, but it is much improved and the tach flutter is gone. On the plus side, the engine now fires up practically immediately. Little to no cranking required.
I realise this is a little long, but I thought it necessary to let you know what I did. I was pulling my hair out searching for posts on what to check for. The stock distributor when out looks like the flimsiest POS you have ever seen compared to the MSD one. At least I can make an oil pump primer out of it!
Oh by the way, to get to the earths, you need to remove the drivers side inner fender.
I hope this helps someone.
