distributor check?

any way to check a distributor without sophisticated equipment?

I'm getting fast idle (1200, normal 750) on a feed back carburetor engine. A hand held vacuum guage connected to the idle advance hose (its convenient) shows steady 21" dropping irregulary to 18".

A couple months ago I traced the same problem to a loose ignition wire between the coil and cap. In July I did a tuneup and replaced the PCV valve, cap, and rotor. I think what's happening is the computer is overcompensating and making the engine rev. Twiddling the idle speed screw on the carburetor makes no difference.

So far I've re-cleaned, gapped, and tested the plugs for resistance; cleaned and tested the ignition wires for resistance and snug fit; tested the resistance in the coil; checked the battery and charging voltages, and re-checked the timing. the transistorized points unit on the distributor was replaced about 10k km ago in 1999 (vehicle not used for commuting or much of anythign else. not winter driven.).

the vacuum guage manual suggests ignition or valves and there is no valve noise that I can hear. I checked the valve lash (and compression) about

10k km ago about the same time the transitorized points were replaced. Its a Ford Festiva (Mazda 2B engine) with 101k km on it and in good shape.

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