'80 210 Datsun needs some love

[mahi2010bv]

Hey guys, I need some advice... I have a 80 datsun 210 deluxe; A15 motor with a 3 speed automatic transmission. I call her Rosie (When I bought the car the owner left his rosary on the rear view mirror, when I asked if he wanted it back he said I could keep it. Hence the name Rosie) Now first off I'm not a mechanic, but I do know how to use a wrench and I know how to read Datsun1200.com.

I have been slowly trying to bring her back to life. Not only is she my project car, but it's my everyday driver. With that said, over the past two weeks she has been giving me a hard time starting up. I have loosed the distributor housing and rotated it while I have had the cam on the "0" mark. Dropped the wife off today at school and again it gave me a hard time turning on. Thought maybe it's out of time, so decided to pull the whole distributor out and try to set it back in time. I set it at the mark before the "0" assuming this was TDC ( I realized now I should've checked datsun1200.com to see if I was even doing this right) and began to take it out and align it so it pointed directed at number 4. (It had originally pointed at number 4 but was a little off.) Now by doing this the car didn't want to turn on at all. After a few hours of trying to figure out what happened I checked datsun1200, which says i need to set the cams at the 5 degree mark. Went back to the car set the cams at the 5 degree mark and reset the distributor. The car turned on.. finally. It did sound a little different, best way to describe it is meaner. It like growled when I would rev it. I was more thankful and relieved it was just on, until I put it in gear and it shut off. I did this a few times, would turn it on put it in gear and she would turn off. I need some help I'm not sure what's going on or what I should do..

[datzenmike]

Once the timing has been set it doesn't change. I'm assuming you have an EI electronic Ignition but perhaps you have points? Well the points will wear out and this will slightly upset the timing but replacing worn out ones will bring it back close to the original setting. Loosening the distributor and guessing at the timing is one of the reasons you can't start it now.

 

 

The 1200 advice is good but mostly this is just close enough to get you running. If you have points, replace them. If you have an EI distributor (no points) leave alone. Now get or borrow a timing light and set the timing properly.

 

 

 

Once timed properly your stalling when placed in gear will likely go away. If not there are other things to check and adjust. Solving engine problems are a series of checks and adjustments. Some have to be in order  before moving on to the next.