[rideOn]

Went to time my bike today and ran into problems. The stud on the base plate for the points came off the plate plus the back of the plate has metal missing from from rotation and play in the shaft. i can move the cam and shaft in and out about 3/16.
Any advice?

[1Blackwolf1]

  Sounds like a mount scrfew vibrated out.  And the spacer from the backing plate feel.  Where there any metal filings in the oil?  I believe you could fix this by placing washers behind the plate and reinstalling screw/screws that are missing.  I suppose I'd be more concerned about where the pieces ended up.  Vibration on these causes probably 50% of our problems.  My old BSA Victor was constantly needing ignition adjustments because it rattled/vibrated things loose constantly.  Will.

[rideOn]

The distributor cap had metal shavings in it and I cleaned them all out. I haven't noticed any in the oil. I adjusted the timing at the run mileage  and now, at 950 iles, it has started missing. That's when i went to adjust timing. At run in, I only had to verify the contacts gap and adjust the plate slightly. Now, I cannot get proper timing because out of range using the TDC tool.

[1Blackwolf1]

  Luckily you could understand my last post with all the typos (hate working nights).  At least you don't have a lot of filings in the oil.  Do you also use the timimg wheel to set your points?  I know you can do it without the wheel by static method and get it to start but the wheel does get you closer to smooth running.  I personally use the static method to see if they are close and then use the wheel and pointer to fine tune.  Haven't tried the ping method yet on this bike.  Sounds like your breaker plate made a major move being loose.  If you need an explanation of the static method to help let me know.  Will.

[rideOn]

I use the TDC tool and set the contact separation procedure listed in the service manual. It worked well when I set it with this method at run in. I rode last weekend and noticed a squeal from the engine. I assume that from the wear on the back of the plate that the squeal came from the rubbing. I don't know the names of the parts behind the plates, but the manual explains that when the timing advances, these spring-loaded devices expand. I'm thinking there's a correlation between the squeaking, rubbing and timing issue. I rode her to work today, as everyday, and she rode ok. It's only a mellow 4 mile trip one way and I never get above 35-40. I'm wondering if the in and out movement of the eccentric cam shaft is normal .There is no radial play in that shaft. 

[1Blackwolf1]

  The items behind the breaker plate are the advance weights they advance/retard your timimg based on engine speed.  In and out movement on the shaft (like it's trying to slide off) is unwanted or at worst should only be minimal there should be some kind of keeperretainer to prevent this.  Haven't had mine apart in a while.  Probably a screw in the center of the eccentric shaft or retainer springs holding the shaft over the advance weights.  Don't believe there should be any movement here.  Will. 

[rideOn]

Definitely sounds abnormal. Disenchantment is setting in. 900 miles and one control has broken, the distribuor now has problems and the tail light housing broke and fell off on the way home today. 4 miles to work and 4 miles home everyday for work and my longest trip to date less than 100mi in the flat lands of SC. The wife loves the C5 but I may be thinking Japanese for her.

[ace.cafe]

What do you mean by "out of range of the TDC tool"?

From various little clues that I can extract from you descriptions, it may be that the advance plate is sticking or jammed, and needs to be looked at and possibly corrected.

If you are not comfortable doing this, then bring the bike to your dealer. It should be under warrantee at 960 miles, and even if you bought it 2nd hand, it's worth the cost to get the bike fixed and running right.

[rideOn]

Follow the timing procedure until you back the wheel to approach TDC. The contacts should click and the ammeter move. On the TDC tool this occurs actually, at best, 5 marks from TDC. The eccentric cam will not adjust to the point where there is .8 mm difference between the snap and TDC. In the past, I left the adjustment at 1 gradation on the tool. Starts great there and runs good. the distributor shaft slides in and out 2.95 mm and is rubbing against the point's base plate. It just seems like a timing gear has jumped a tooth.

[ace.cafe]

Follow the timing procedure until you back the wheel to approach TDC. The contacts should click and the ammeter move. On the TDC tool this occurs actually, at best, 5 marks from TDC. The eccentric cam will not adjust to the point where there is .8 mm difference between the snap and TDC. In the past, I left the adjustment at 1 gradation on the tool. Starts great there and runs good. the distributor shaft slides in and out 2.95 mm and is rubbing against the point's base plate. It just seems like a timing gear has jumped a tooth.

I really don't think that the gear can jump a tooth, because of the limited clearance over the gear in the timing chest. But, I never really measured it. However 2.95mm isn't enough to let it come out of engagement with the idler gears anyway.
And the likelhood of that gear nut just backing off is very small. But you may have to take off your timing cover to check its tightness, if you think that it might have loosened up.
Check the screw in the middle of the shaft that you can see when you remove the distrbutor cap, to make sure that's tight first. The advance plate is on a tapered fit to the main distributor shaft, and it could slip or get loose, so check that center screw.
Then see if you can grab hold of the breaker cam on the center shaft, and rotate to the right, and see if it can move about 1/8 of a turn to the right, and is should spring back after you let go.
If you can't rotate that cam, then the advance mechanism is stuck, possibly in the full advanced position or maybe part-way. You should be able to twist it to the right, and it should spring back by itself.
And if that is stuck, that might be why you can't get the cam to open the points at the correct spot before TDC. Because it's stuck advanced.

So, basically you have to troubleshoot your distributor, and possibly disassemble it.
You might have bent pins, or the advance plate might have slipped and need to be re-positioned, or whatever.
Are you capable of doing this?

[rideOn]

Yep, measured the amount of movement with my digital calipers and searched each of 575 pages of my RE super duper service manual and no mention of the distributor parts breakdown, parts list, assembly removal, adjustments.....nothing. I suppose the timing cover is the next step. It ain't rocket science so I guess I'll figure it out.

[1Blackwolf1]

  just draw a diagram or take a picture of the pieces as you disassemble them.  Shouldn't be to hard to figure out the problem.  Sounds like you lost a keeper or some other mounting device as I stated before.  If you ever rebuilt a distributor in a car it's essentially the same thing.  Not hard just tedious if you've never done it before.  WIll.

[ace.cafe]

I just went out and checked my distributor shaft today.
Mine has some play in/out also.
Maybe not quite 3mm, but pretty close to it.

So, you're not the only one that has some in/out play in your distributor.
My bike doesn't seem to be suffering any difficulties from it, but I have a Boyer Bransdon electronic ignition, and not points.
I don't think that is causing your problem.
Maybe somebody else can check their distributor shaft for in/out play, and tell us if they have any.

[rideOn]

Thanks for everyone's input. I got some terrific info today from the perfect source, including the procedure and the always handy pix that is excluded from the 575 page MEGA manual. It is fairly simple, but tedious enough to avoid jumping into the project of removing and installing the timing cover without knowing them. Yes, there is a nut on the back side. Torque spec. 9 ft.lb. It's good to know that condensers on these machines work so well for so long. When I was a tech for Harris/3M and Toshiba, I learned that mechancial almost always broke before electrical. So when the advance mechanism in my classic started spinning and moving toward the points mounting plate, it acted like a metal cutting tool, it did not discriminate against the back side of the condenser, if you know what I mean. It would be nice to find a local substitute for what is a proprietary part for EM needs.

[rideOn]

I just went out and checked my distributor shaft today.
Mine has some play in/out also.
Maybe not quite 3mm, but pretty close to it.

So, you're not the only one that has some in/out play in your distributor.
My bike doesn't seem to be suffering any difficulties from it, but I have a Boyer Bransdon electronic ignition, and not points.
I don't think that is causing your problem.
Maybe somebody else can check their distributor shaft for in/out play, and tell us if they have any.

ace.cafe
I tallked to a Britsh bike parts supplier about Boyer electronic ignition. They sound terrific but the $2-300 makes me think it out a little. What do think of Boyer over others?

[ace.cafe]

I just went out and checked my distributor shaft today.
Mine has some play in/out also.
Maybe not quite 3mm, but pretty close to it.

So, you're not the only one that has some in/out play in your distributor.
My bike doesn't seem to be suffering any difficulties from it, but I have a Boyer Bransdon electronic ignition, and not points.
I don't think that is causing your problem.
Maybe somebody else can check their distributor shaft for in/out play, and tell us if they have any.

ace.cafe
I tallked to a Britsh bike parts supplier about Boyer electronic ignition. They sound terrific but the $2-300 makes me think it out a little. What do think of Boyer over others?

My Boyer is good when it's working right, but it's a little flaky, and occasionally gives some problems.
I'm not convinced that the Boyer is totally reliable.
Others have had problems too, and I believe that CMW quit carrying them.

To my way of thinking the other expensive electronic ignition by Power Arc is a better unit, and it has ability to switch to a retarded curve for hill-climbing or hard acceleration, which can save your piston.
So, when I dump this Boyer, I'm going with the Power Arc.
In fact, I already have it on my shelf, and am waiting for some of my other engine parts to be finished before I do a whole engine overhaul and install all my new parts.