The 1966 Mustang was equipped with a Loadomatic vacuum advance distributor. Within the distributor is a breaker plate. A vacuum advance canister on the distributor, in conjunction with two springs, shifts the breaker plate slightly as the speed of the engine varies to adjust the timing when the distributor sends a spark to each of the engine's spark plugs. These distributors can be repaired, but it is often cheaper and easier to simply replace a worn-out unit with a new one.
Tools Used: Flat head screwdriver, Wrench
Replace Distributor
Pry the two clips off of the sides of the distributor cap with a flat head screwdriver, then lift the cap off of the distributor cap.
Disconnect the single wire which protrudes from the side of the distributor from the ignition coil. The wire slides onto a small threaded rod on the coil and is held in place with a small nut. Remove the nut with a wrench, then pull the distributor wire off of the coil.
Pull the rubber vacuum advance hose off of the vacuum canister on the side of the distributor.
Write down the direction that the vacuum advance canister on the side of the distributor faces, as well as the direction of the metal tip of the distributor's rotor. For example, when viewing the distributor from the front of the engine, the vacuum canister may be facing the 6 o'clock position and the metal tip of the rotor may be facing the 11 o'clock position. So long as the replacement distributor is installed in the same position, it will not be necessary to reset the engine's timing.
Remove the bolt, followed by the hold-down clamp, from the bottom of the distributor with a wrench, then pull the distributor out of the engine.
Lower the distributor part way into the engine. Rotate the distributor until the vacuum advance canister faces the direction of the canister noted in Step 4. Line up the rotor on the replacement distributor so that its metal tip faces slightly counter-clockwise of the direction of the rotor noted in Step 4, then lower the distributor into the engine. When the base of the distributor connects to the oil pump's shaft within the engine, the rotor will turn slightly to the right.
Position the distributor's hold-down clamp against the base of the distributor, ensuring that the bolt hole in the clamp aligns with the bolt hole on the intake manifold. Insert the clamp's retaining bolt through the clamp, then tighten the bolt into the manifold with a wrench.
Push the distributor's vacuum line onto the metal fitting at the center of the vacuum advance canister.
Attach the distributor's wire to the ignition coil.
Place the distributor cap onto the distributor then push both clips onto the sides of the cap until they clip into place.
0 Comments