320i motor into 318i?

[TobyB]

You need a different distributor. What's happening is that, by spinning yours backwards,
you've got mechanical spark retard instead of advance.

If you can get the pickup guts from the 318 to fit into the 320 dizzy, that would work.
Given how little changed inside them, it's probably possible, if you mix and match parts.
Make sure your original dizzy HAD a mechanical advance- if they did it in the ecu, things
get a lot easier. Just lock out the mechanical advance, and you're good to go.
(Sorry- I've taken too many apart- the E21 used mechanical advance, but don't remember
if the E30 did)

The problem is that the TYPE of distributor changed when the direction changed.
So all the points distributors spin clockwise, and all the pickup distributors spin
counterclockwise. F*ck knows why...
But the E30 needs the pickup style to run the ECU...

hth

t

[Tzzantaru]

E30 1.8i M10B18 L-jetronic with Cat -> Distributor has mechanical advance and spins counterclockwise.

None of the M10's on E30 had timining managed by ECU.That changed only with Motronic , but then again M10 got stuck with L-jetronic 'til the end...and might I say , l-jetronic SUCKS.

[boostless]

You need a different distributor. What's happening is that, by spinning yours backwards,
you've got mechanical spark retard instead of advance.

If you can get the pickup guts from the 318 to fit into the 320 dizzy, that would work.
Given how little changed inside them, it's probably possible, if you mix and match parts.
Make sure your original dizzy HAD a mechanical advance- if they did it in the ecu, things
get a lot easier. Just lock out the mechanical advance, and you're good to go.
(Sorry- I've taken too many apart- the E21 used mechanical advance, but don't remember
if the E30 did)

The problem is that the TYPE of distributor changed when the direction changed.
So all the points distributors spin clockwise, and all the pickup distributors spin
counterclockwise. F*ck knows why...
But the E30 needs the pickup style to run the ECU...

hth

t

So do I need to lock out the advance on my distributor? I don't understand how swapping parts into the 320i distributor would help since it would still be spinning the opposite direction.

[TobyB]

No, per Tzz, don't lock it out.

The 320 distributor is designed to spin clockwise, the 318, counterclockwise.

So:

The 318 dizzy makes the top of the distributor turn a bit counterclockwise as engine revs rise.

The 320 dizzy makes the top of the distributor turn a bit CLOCKWISE as revs rise.

So what's happening with the wrong- way turning 318 dizzy is that your timing is
increasingly late as engine speed increases, and that just sucks power right out of it.

See if you can get the 318's inductive pickup onto the mechanical (and vacuum) advance
distributor of the 320. If you can, that will work pretty well.

hth

t

[TobyB]

I really have no clue what your trying to get across, I don't understand how my putting my internals of one dizzy into another is going to get it to spin the other way...? Maybe I'm not picking something up that your trying to say.

In the base of every M10 distributor is a mechanical advance mechanism. It makes the spark
occur a bit earlier as the engine revs rise- thus, mechanical advance.
It's direction- specific, though. So the 320
distributor will work correctly in the direction your new engine spins.

The 318 one from the old engine will RETARD the timing as the engine revs rise, giving you the 'choked' feeling you're getting. Additionally, the vacuum advance will do the same thing.

So if you use the 320 dist, it'll still spin opposite to what an e30 expects- but the ONLY
parts that care are those that do the mechanical and vacuum advance, and since they're going in the direction they're designed to, everything will work fine.

The toothed wheel and coil from the E30 will trigger spark and signal the ECU just like it
was supposed to, since it's not direction sensitive.

Any better?

t

[boostless]

I'll see if I can't pull them apart tonight. I've never dug into the guts of a distributor so hopefully I don't eff it up

[boostless]

Alright so I got it done today. What I did was pull the weights (mechanical advance) shaft and gear from the 320i distributor and stuck it in the 318 distributor with the pulse generator.

[TobyB]

Yeah, as long as the weights do what they did in the 320 distributor, you're set.

t

[boostless]

My only doubt now is the timing. The Bentley says to look through the hole in the trans but I can't see shit in there so I just guesstimated on the crank pulley.

[Tzzantaru]

Do you have a timing light?

Make one of These and stick it to the pulley.Just be sure to align the 0 over the mark on the pulley.

[boostless]

Thanks, I guess I'll be timing it correctly tonight

[Tzzantaru]

No problem BUT be sure to measure the circumference of the pulley as that timing tape is made for a 15.25" pulley.
I got that tape from another forum , i'll PM the topic if u need it as I'm not sure it's ok to post it here.

The maker of the tape also said it's best to print it in 300dpi.

[boostless]

Ok so now I'm dealing with an over heating issue which I'm pretty sure is a radiator cap. After looking at the flow of the cooling system has anyone tried to block off the hose that goes from the intake side of the head down to the thermostat so that the coolant doesn't get recirculated and actually goes through the radiator?