I bought this nifty device, last one on the shelf already opened/returned but it doesn't have an insruction manual with it.

I hooked up + and - to the battery, and the green aligator clip to the negative side of the coil.

With the car off it reads 60 on the 4 cyl scale. With the car running it reads 30? I moved the point closer to the rotor and it now reads 20 with the car running.

Is this device messed up or is my dwell angle really messed up.

DOes it have a 4 cyl scale? Or a 4 6, or 8 setting?

Have you checked at the Craftsman website for a digital manual?

read:

http://www.centuryperformance.com/point_settings.asp

Yes I did.. the is no manual on their website that icould find.

I will give it another shot this weekend. I'm going to gap the points with a feeler gauge first, then adjust in small increments. I may have been doing it all wrong.

Thanks

First thing you should do is calibrate your dwell meter. Usually by touching the leads together and, using the adjustment screw, set it to zero or 100. Which ever end of the meter it goes towards.

4 cylinder engines should be in the...

Single point:
Point Gap-------Dwell (each)-----Dwell (combined)
.018"-------------34°---------------34° ± 2°

Dual point:
Point Gap-----Dwell (each)-----Dwell (combined)
.022"-----------32°---------------41° ± 2°

Too much dwell can cause a late spark, rough running, lack of RPM potential, early point and condenser failures.

Too little dwell causes a weak spark, overheated points, "stuck" points, poor engine performance, and makes your winky shrivel.

I have an older Craftsman analyzer and it has worked well on the T4 with both points and the Crane breaker-less ignition I later installed. I hook it up as you describe and set it for 4-cylinder. I use it to set the idle speed and to check RPM when using a timing light. When I still had points I found the car ran better with the dwell set with the analyzer, as opposed to simply setting the point gap. It's been a long time since I had points, but I think the specified dwell required a point gap greater than that specified.

I just got one those too. Got it with a Craftsman Gift Cert. (FREEEEE) I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. I could copy my manual and mail it to you if you havn't found one yet. - Let me know...
Mike D.

Thanks for the info. 34 degree dwell for single point on our 914s???

Pelican says 45 degrees?

"You usually hook up the dwell meter by attaching one lead to ground and the other to the negative terminal of the coil. Start the car and measure the initial dwell angle. All 914s should be set to 44°-50° for all RPMs. If your angle is not in this range, remove the distributor cap and loosen the screw shown in Figure 1. Move the small set of points outwards to decrease the angle, or inwards to increase the angle. Replace the distributor cap and start the engine. Check the angle again and repeat the adjustment until it is within the proper range. The dwell meter shown in Figure 2 shows the dwell angle set at 45°."

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9.../914_timing.htm

What gives?

Mike - I'm fairly certain i'm using it correctly. The black/red go to the battery, and green to the negative side of the coil. There is no zero adjustment on this tool.

Yarin,

Power up the meter. Put green lead to +12V. Adjust zero meter till it reads 100%. Connect green lead to coil. Measure dwell.

48-52 degrees should be good.

Carlos

QUOTE (cgnj @ May 21 2005, 06:56 PM)

Yarin, Power up the meter. Put green lead to +12V. Adjust zero meter till it reads 100%. Connect green lead to coil. Measure dwell. 48-52 degrees should be good. Carlos

Hey Carlos!

It sounds like you have solved my problem! I'll get right to it tommorow morning, thanks for the information!