Engine Analyzer
- Thread starter Coach James
- Start date
laser3kw
Well-known member
I'm afraid that has gone by the wayside as EFI took over. It still has an audience with the Hot Rod guys that still have a dizzy.
bob15
Well-known member
I do. Owing a 67 camaro and several antique tractors with points, yes they still get used.
Maui
Well-known member
I have that exact analyzer! I bought it new from Sears way back when (1980s?) and I still use it to adjust the timing on my 1969 Ford Galaxie. When I first bought it, it worked perfectly. After using it I put it away on the storage shelf in my garage. About a year later I pulled it out to use it again and found that nothing worked. Nada. So I removed the back panel to look inside and I was surprised by what I saw. The electronic boards were soldered together properly and looked quite good, but the connections from the boards to the plugs on the front on the panel were mechanically crimped, and done poorly. One of the crimped connections had actually failed. I couldn’t believe that they used such **** connections during the final assembly. So I soldered those connections together instead of re-crimping them, and everything worked like it should. I still have it and use it to this day.
Maui
Maui
joel63
Well-known member
I sure the classic guys probably do.
I can remembering wanting one of those in the early '70s when Sears sold them for about $75 or $130. Can't remember what the price was exactly, but either way it was way out of my reach.
Things have changed though with all the new technology today.
OP
Coach James
Well-known member
Thanks for the responses and information. I think it looks cool, so I'm going to keep it on display in my garage. I was surprised my dad still had the manual for it.
Maui, my first car was a 4 door, '68 Ford Galaxie. I think I could put 8 people in that car easily with 8 more in the trunk. I wish I still had it.
Coach
Maui, my first car was a 4 door, '68 Ford Galaxie. I think I could put 8 people in that car easily with 8 more in the trunk. I wish I still had it.
Coach
bajones238
Well-known member
I prefer the old analog stuff for working on my old cars.
Maui
Well-known member
Coach, they’re great cars aren’t they? I bought mine from the original owner in Alabama back in 1993 and drove it all the way here on horribly weather checked bias ply tires. I couldn’t believe I made it all the way to upstate NY without getting a flat tire. And I’ve had it ever since. It still has the original paint although rust is pretty evident is several spots. I had the factory air conditioning system charged with R12 about 10 years ago and it still blows ice cold. I love driving it.
anndel
Well-known member
I still have mine but is sits on the shelf. Used to check dwell angle, volts, amps, rpm. Was a great tool at that time. Some techs nowadays don't even know how to use a timing light.
619DioFan
Well-known member
I have one of those as well. been a long time since I had a car to use it on , but never say never so I will keep it.
OP
Coach James
Well-known member
Coach, they’re great cars aren’t they? I bought mine from the original owner in Alabama back in 1993 and drove it all the way here on horribly weather checked bias ply tires. I couldn’t believe I made it all the way to upstate NY without getting a flat tire. And I’ve had it ever since. It still has the original paint although rust is pretty evident is several spots. I had the factory air conditioning system charged with R12 about 10 years ago and it still blows ice cold. I love driving it.
They were great cars. Mine was a hand me down from my parents. It started as a drivers ed car. You could feel the indention in the passenger floor board where the second brake pedal was. It had no factory AC so my parents had it added. It was a rectangular box that attached under the dash. I thought we were rich because we had a car with AC in it.
Coach
joe_padavano
Well-known member
No, the real problem is that mechanics have been replaced by "parts changers" who only know how to plug in a test computer and replace the parts it tells them to. No concept of how the systems work and incapable of diagnosing their way out of a paper bag. God help you if the problem with your vehicle is intermittent or doesn't set a code.
Desertskyy
Well-known member
I have the same one sitting in the bottom of my tool box. It has been years since I have pulled it out and used it
jgromada
Well-known member
i have one of those too. It hasn't been used for years.
Then again i can't remember the last car i had that used points. Don't miss those days :-(
Then again i can't remember the last car i had that used points. Don't miss those days :-(
laser3kw
Well-known member
They were parts changers back in the day also.
Customer: The engine is running rough, shuddering and shaking.
Mechanic: we'll do a "tune up"
replaces, cap, rotor, points, condenser, plugs and wires. Never diagnoses what the true problem is, just "replaces everything". The difference is, they had to used a tach / dwell meter to adjust it correctly.
It's the same today as it was back then. It's just the "tools" look different. But you still have to know how to use the "tool"
A what? Points? Dizzy? How can you control spark timing without multiple computers and sensors? Heresy!
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
I have the full brace of anything I can think of at my command, true, I don't see too many 283's come into the shop, but by god if one does we can get 'er running...
The cool thing about technology is you can use both old school AND new school if you know what you're doing... and depending on the symptoms, you may need both to chase a problem.
Now pardon me, I need to go open up the ECU on my truck and find the break in the circuits, just as soon as the Dragon crew gets aboard the ISS...
The cool thing about technology is you can use both old school AND new school if you know what you're doing... and depending on the symptoms, you may need both to chase a problem.
Now pardon me, I need to go open up the ECU on my truck and find the break in the circuits, just as soon as the Dragon crew gets aboard the ISS...
MBfreak
MEMBER EMERITUS
Lassen Forge
The Dragon crew luckily crawled into ISS.
Kudos to Musk and his people. Great job.
I saw the docking on HD TV and the SPACEX manufacturing is a lot less than stellar.
The cast (?) nose is riveted onto the sheet metal body and the riveting is absolutely awful.
Ola
The Dragon crew luckily crawled into ISS.
Kudos to Musk and his people. Great job.
I saw the docking on HD TV and the SPACEX manufacturing is a lot less than stellar.
The cast (?) nose is riveted onto the sheet metal body and the riveting is absolutely awful.
Ola
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
Huh?? 
So which is it? Musk and his people ARE SpaceX. Was it a great job or awful? They've been running the Dragon system for a while without issue - how are the assemblies faulty? Please show us...
bctexas
Well-known member
greg13
Well-known member
And some of us take that "old school" thing a step or three further....
Come big or stay home!!
OP
Coach James
Well-known member
And some of us take that "old school" thing a step or three further....
Very cool!
Thanks for the feedback everyone. So not as useful now as years ago, but I'm keeping it anyway.
Coach