Ok, time to get some opinions here: My 74 2.0L had a contact plate with a broken ground wire on the contact plate; SLITS was kind enough to send me a new contact
plate with intact wire. Upon putting it in, not only did I notice that my dizzy now is
quite a bit more rotated CCW than it used to be, I can't get the car to idle well and it
will only run if I have the vacuum retard line to the dizzy disconnected. If it is idling at 1000rpm, upon connection of that hose, the revs drop significantly enough to make the car try to die. I have no ability to adjust idle using the air bleed screw on the throttle body either. It's like there is a big vacuum leak somewhere....
I'm not too well versed on the EFI stuff yet but have been spending lots of time looking at Anders website. I have unplugged Temp sensor I and it's idling better without it but I still can't hook up the retard vacuum line or adjust idle screw. I did notice that the AAR is a little loose on top where the hoses fit on; could it be leaking at the top?
The only things I have done prior to the distributer plate install was I removed the air cleaner and had a look around underneath. I don't think I messed up anything upon reinstall; it's pretty simple. My vacuum hoses are all pretty much new; oh, I did replace the hose that goes from the AAR to the cold start valve while I had the air cleaner off. Could I have disturbed the AAR enough to cause this problem? Everything was pretty good with the car prior to doing the dizzy and the only reason I wanted to change the plate was because my ground was broken and I wanted to fix it instead of how it was rigged. I had it wedged underneath my Pertronix module plate. It worked but I'm not nuts about rigging stuff...
Any ideas of where to start before I start testing components? I'm still thinking about the AAR being the culprit...anyone have any leads for me?

Could be the A.A.R. - when the car is warm, does it still let air thru , it should not.
if you are in warm climate, you could plug ithe intake of the a.a.r. for now, but either clean it out- the get stuck if dirt gets in, test to make sure it is getting 12v, and does it get hot in 5-10 min? if not the element is shot and you need a new one.

I have a 75 2.0 d-jet and have had the same thing happen when i replaced my points plate for the same reason, then installed the hotspark module too. i was way off on my distributor alignment. so you may be- recheck the timing and dial in the distributor, and it should come back around

if you are trouble shooting other vac leaks, disconnect and plug all the vac lines, reattach one at a time and you will figure out where the leak is. - if you suspect a location, spray starter fluid at that location and you will se an increase in idle and leveling off for a few seconds- i found that my intake runner boot were leaking- could not get that idle dialed in, pulled runners replaced all the seals gaskets runner boots to plenum etc and eliminated all those leaks-

good luck , keep us posted.

phil

I could send you a whole 'nuther distributor though I would have to look for it. Timing has to be way off somehow.

With engine at TDC #1, does the rotor point to the hash mark on the rim of the dizzy?

Have you altered your sparkplug wires position? #1 lead should be in line with the rotor as described above. If one pole off ... well, you know. Put the cap in place and make sure it is lined up as above.

And plug the effin' AAR hose connection to the plenum or cap the nipple on the plenum.

Good luck.

Need to verify your timing. If it is retarded, the idle will drop.

Be careful spraying stuff on the engine to find leaks, if you have a plug or coil wire with any insulation problems, you could light up the whole engine compartment and yourself.

Well....I just replaced my intake runner boots and gaskets; they parts just happened to come while i was working in that area. It's not as hard as I thought it may be and my boots were in sad shape. I managed to get it all back together; not much change in anything. I will plug off the AAR tomorrow and see what that does..
In testing the pin positions on the ECU, do I get at those inside the box? I was looking at the Anders site about it and I'd like to do all those test points to see if I can get an idea about whether my components and wiring are all working right. Can't hurt right?
Maybe I'll even find the answer to my problem!