fasteddi

ok can somone give me the easiest explination on how to set the points and dwell... this 1962 olds 98 has a dwell of 42 degrees... when i try to adjust it it just wants to die... and another thing is when i put my hand over the carb to block air it idles smoother... thank you anyone that can help me because im totally lost with this car and what could be wrong with it..... i jsut want to drive it without it dying...

rocketraider

First, you have my respect for even attempting to work on this car while being completely unfamiliar with old-school technology.

Do you have a dwell tach and timing light? and if you have one is it known accurate (as in do you have it set on the 8-cylinder scale)? Might not be easy to find one now but they are out there. It's the most accurate means of tuning a points ignition car short of having a Sun or Marquette distributor machine.

Have you changed the points? If not, I expect its time. If you have, did you reinstall them correctly? Delco distributors have nubs on the advance plate to locate the points correctly. Most new sets come adjusted pretty close, enough to get the car started and running so you can fine-tune them.

You already know dwell should be set 28-32 degrees with 30 being about ideal. Dwell does affect base timing, so dwell should be set first. Once you have dwell set to specs, set the idle speed to about 500 RPM, disconnect the vacuum advance hose and set the timing at 5 degrees BTDC- there is a groove on the harmonic balancer and a scale on the front cover of the engine. You do this by turning the distributor in its bore, so you might want to squirt a little penetrating oil around the base of the distributor in case its seized after all these years.

Idle speed may increase or decrease depending on which way you turn the distributor. If it changes, once timing is set to specs, reset the idle speed. You may want to recheck the timing as engine speed does affect it.

While you're at it check the vacuum advance diaphram. It may have dryrotted after all these years and not be functional. That will make some weird driveability problems.

I'll put it to you this way, youngun- it would be a whole lot easier to show you how to do it than to explain it here, but you seem to have some mechanical ability and understanding so I think you'll figure it out. Can't remember where in Ohio you said you are, but there's a large Oldsmobile community in the state so you can probably find someone to help you. Or for that matter anyone who understands points ignition. Just remember if you get a Chevy guy to help you, the distributor turns counterclockwise and the firing order is different from 65-later GM. And no, the answer is not to stick a damn Chevy 350 in it, because I guarantee someone is going to tell you to do that.

fasteddi

I do have a good dwell and its set for a v-8 it also has three leads.. a yellow, black, and red. Now i hooked the red to the neg. on the coil and the black to a good ground. I know that a dwell meter hooked up wrong can give false readings so have you ever used a meter with these types of leads?? And if so how were they hooked up? Tommorow morning i plan on installing new points, condenser, and wires..new plugs went in the other day gapped at .030. i also have a rebuild kit right now for the carb, which i also need to tend to. i have worked on alot of cars but honestly never one older than an early 80's camaro...thank you for the tips greatly and if i have some problems instaling the points and getting the dwell and the timeing right....you may see me on here again..but again i do understand more now!! thank you greatly!!! dont worrie the 394 is never leaving this car....its a great engine when its running good...

rocketraider

All my dwell tachs have been powered off the car battery and the coil leads have a green boot on the clip.

Try this: red to battery (+), black to battery (-) and yellow to coil (-).

Timing light- some are self-powered, most run off the car's battery and connect red to battery (+), black to battery (-), and take the signal off #1 cylinder's spark plug wire. Some have inductive pickups that simply clamp around the plug wire, others actually require the trigger lead to be installed inline with the wire at either the distributor or plug end.

Try opening up that plug gap to about .035. A points distributor in good condition should have no trouble firing across that much gap.

MDchanic

Unless it says different in the instructions, a dwell meter would ordinarily be connected with the red to the battery (+), the black to the battery (-) (or a good ground), and the yellow (or green, or whatever) to the (-) side of the coil (the wire that goes to the distributor and the points).

If you connected it differently, then heaven knows what sort of readings you'd get.

As for the rest of it, this is all really simple stuff that just requires a bit of care while you're doing it. Explaining it sounds complicated, but DOING it is simple, so don't let all the words confuse you - it'll all fall into place once your hands are moving.

I would also strongly recommend getting a manual if you don't have one already. The factory manual is best, though for your year it might take a week or two to find one, but for what you're doing right now, any Chilton or Motor manual would be fine. Motor usually goes back about five years from the publication date, and Chilton ten, if I recall, so any manual from about 1960 to about 1972 should get you there for now.
Also, here are a few links to step-by-step articles about how to do this:

• "Ignition's the Word for Go" Popular Mechanics May, 1962
• "What You Should Know About Engine Timing" Popular Science January, 1965
• "How to Use a Timing Light" Popular Science May, 1977
• "15 Ways to Cure Rough Idle" Popular Mechanics February, 1967
• "How to Replace and Adjust Distributor Points" Popular Science June, 1967
• "Secrets for Getting the Best Engine Tune-Up" Popular Science November, 1966
• "How to Use the Tach-Dwell for Perfect Tune-Ups" Popular Mechanics February, 1971
• "Controlling Your Car's Control Center, Part 1" Popular Mechanics December, 1964
• "Controlling Your Car's Control Center, Part 2" Popular Mechanics January, 1965

Good luck!

- Eric

Run to Rund

IIRC, plug gap specs back then were about .030". You may have a vacuum leak at the carb base or intake gasket since shutting off air at the carb helps... Try setting the points to .018-.019" and check dwell afterwards.

fasteddi

ok i think i was definitly hooking the dwell up wrong so im going to see what it reads with the leads hooked up as red to positive black to ground and the yellow to the neg. on the coil....

fasteddi

oki finally have the dwell set at 30 degrees.. now i just have install the new ponts and condeser and set it up the same......fingers crossed.....i know this is easy but this is the first time i have ever changed points on something else than a dirt bike...

MDchanic

Yeah, but you've done it before, and if you've got the adjustable points (with the allen screw), it's so much nicer .

Just slap them puppies in and get 'er goin'!

And check out those articles I posted - they're really quite cool!

- Eric

f-85

My dwell meter just has 2 leads. Red to (+) on the batt, and black to the (-) on the coil

fasteddi

ive got the points and stuff good to go but i rebuild the carb today, which it really needed, and not it starts fine but idles bad unless i adjust the choke.. and also, dont laugh....but i forgot where a spring went.. its a large spring that looks like it holds arms on the carb in place....opps.. any help is greatful...and how do i adjust the air fuel ratio??????

rocketraider

You don't. It's all done with the jets in the carb. A/F ratio is a computer-controlled FI engine thing and carbs require experimentation with jetting to change it. Yes, the OE jetting is a compromise for all types of driving, but back then no one worried that much about fuel mileage or emissions, and these cars got 10-14 mpg on 106 octane leaded premium pump gas, which every station had. Phillips 66 FliteFuel, Sunoco 260, and Pure Firebird Super were among the best I remember. There was none of this ethanol bullschit- it was real gasoline.

Remember what I told you about gaskets in that carb? The wrong one between the float bowl and throttle plate will send a 4GC into orbit.

Does your dwell meter also have a tach? If so, use it to set idle mixture. Set the idle speed around 550-600 rpm, then turn the idle mixture screws in (to lean) or out (to richen) until you have a steady, smooth idle and idle speed does not increase further. Then alternately turn each idle screw in 1/8 turn at a time until the rpm drops by 30-50 rpm. That is what is called lean best idle. You may have to reset the actual idle speed, but most of these engines would idle happily at 500 rpm, and I've seen some go as low as 450 without stalling.

Choke should be set with the pointer on the bakelite cover at the "index" mark on the choke housing. It will be the largest pointer cast into the housing, about midway.

If you're going to work on this car, you need to pick up a 1961 Olds factory shop manual, along with the 1962 supplement. That was the only year Olds did that shop manual supplement mess, and you have to have both for a 62. You also need to know when your car was built and whether it has a generator or an alternator so you can get the appropriate printing for the electrical section- Olds changed to alternators midway of the 62 model year (late February), and the Sept 61 printing does not cover any of the alternator stuff.