Centrifugal advance sticking?

Hey all. I dissasembled my distributor today, and took out the points, plate, etc, till all that was left was the weight system under the plate. There is only one spring, one weight flys around crazily, and the other weight with the spring on it sticks so badly I don't know how any amount of spinning would move that weight out to advance the spark. My engine has been running like crap lately...sound like my problem? When I try to push out the little weight, (the one that has the spring and actually moves the shaft around) it sticks alot, and doesn't move freely at all. This doesn't look right to me...is it supposed to stick? How should it look? The other weight doesn't have any spring, and there are no little plastic parts on it to push the shaft around. It just bounces around when I spin the shaft. This CAN'T be right...but I've never seen a good one before so I don't know. Any ideas? Thanks! ~Anthony

This is your centrifugal advance, not the vacuum advance.

It is common for these to seize up after this many years. but we should start at HOW to test them.

With the dist shaft (bottom end) fixed, grab the rotor and twist it CW. It should turn a bit and then hit a solid stop. When you release it, it should snap back smartly.

If it is sticky when you turn it, or doesn't return on it's own instantly, then it is sticking. You may be able to just work it free, or you may have to take it completely apart to get it to work.

Note that there is a felt pad in the top of the shaft. If you put a drop of oil in there at every other tune up this mechanism will never bind up, but nobody knows that and they get ignored and after 20 years they seize up.

There's a good exploded view of the parts in the Bentley manual.

I rebuild these for $55 including return shipping and any minor parts that are needed. Major parts are seldom necessary.

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

-----------------------------------------------