Sun Diagnostic Machines

[skruft]

Wow - great collections.

The only traditional older Sun machine I still have is a dual vacuum meter.

 

[afslbvi]

Yes, I could be interested
what condition is it in and is it complete with all adapter, connections, etc.

pls email me at [email protected]

 

[uncmouse]

new guy here,welcome.looking for info on sun/allen diagnostic 3 machine.has large scope,cabinet.need applcation years if possible.thasnks again
Brian

 

[wildhorsehans]

Got my 1115 and love it! Made working on the Falcon so easy. I have about 20 guys wanting to hook up to it already! LOL
Everything I have tried works so far. I still need to replace the internal vac hoses for the IR gas analyzer.


And the mighty Falcon! LOL

 

[powermax12]

Hi, new guy here.

Found this site looking for help with my 1115 that I purchased new.

Why would a guy owning the scope for that long need help, you ask?

I pulled it out today and plugged it in and the vacuum pump sounded funny so I in the filter area and the hoses were broken and laying on the bottom of the box.

Well I removed the back panel to check the other hoses and they are ALL broken and laying on the bottom of the cabinet.

I don't have a clue where they connect.

Does anyone have a schematic or willing to shoot a couple of pictures showing the connections and routing?

What are thoughts on silicone hose replacements?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wine-o1]

I'm hoping you guys will appreciate my vintage Sun exhaust analyzer that I got at an auction. I was excited about getting it because I am hoping to use it to at least set the idle mixture on my carb and I only paid $10 for it.

...but I was even more excited when I found this in the bottom storage area.

Apparently these filters are still availible but I thought having NOS filters was kind of cool. Anyway, how useful are these for carb tuning? Any real world experience would be much appreciated as I have yet to use this device.

 

[Terry454]

Wine-o1 Let me be the first to say:

you ****.

Terry

 

[Brad54]

I have a Sun 505 that I bought and restored for a couple of magazine articles (meaning I not only got my money back, i made money on it).
It was absolutely instrumental in getting the ignition sorted out in my wife's '61 Corvair station wagon.
Discovered the bushings were worn in the distributor.
Went through the pile and found one that "tracked" nicely on the Sun's strobe light, set it up, and dropped it in the car.
The one with worn bushings was sacrificed to become an oil pump primer.

I'll do the same when I get my '54 Buick on the road, and when I buy a pulse amplifier for it, I'll set up the HE in my '61 Suburban, the MSD in my gasser and the distributor on my '73 Duster.

-Brad

 

[Wine-o1]

Thanks. I got to use it today and after it warmed up the CO was 1.3% and the HC was around 325ppm I think those numbers are OK. One thing I can say about these old machines is they were sure built to last ( with the exception of the hoses Inside lol). They were built well and built to be serviced for a long life. Anyone have an idea to find out how old this model is?

 

[wildhorsehans]

Ya the hoses are always gone. They had to be a special material for the exhaust sniffer. Tygon has lots of Hc in it and will give false readings. Same with vacuum tube. It was a special type of nylon tube that I have yet to find so my sniffer is inop.

As for age, I am guessing yours is late 60s early 70s as it has an IR sensor. If you remove the back cover, sometimes there is a date in there. On my 1115 I found a manufactrue date if 1978 and a last serviced date of 1997.

 

[Betch9]

Looking for a manual for a 1215...The machine works fully, but I need a manual to use it to the most.
Thanks.
Brian

 

[oldiron4755]

Found the manual, it is for a TUT-1015. Sorry, thought it was for your machine. They are similar, the TUT-1015 has a oscilloscope, and (4) meters. The manual is 36 pages. If you interested, I could scan it and send it to you.


Edit: looking at your picture again, it appears that your machine has a round vacuum guage in the bottom right corner. The TUT-1015 has a meter that matches the other three(rectangular) for vacuum.

Hi, I have a TUT 1015 machine. Do you still have the manuals? I would like a copy if possible. Mine was working until today, then the 'scope went blank. It has been setting for at least 20 years collecting dust. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Hellnbak]

I know this is an old thread, but I came across a guy wanting to sell some Sun diagnostic gear and thought I would post it here. He's in Newago, Michigan (about 50 miles from me), so if anybody lives in the area they might want to check it out.

 

[Flathead Johnny]

does anyone have information on the sun 300?

 

[Flathead Johnny]

i just purchase this sun 300 and would like to know more about it

 

[spacedoutbob]

You can find Sun testers for really cheap prices at a lot of the Junior Colleges who have Automotive Programs, It seems like they have been phasing them out. Sometimes they are throwing them out and you can pick one up for free.

Bob

 

[spacedoutbob]

Check with places that repair Automotive equipment, a lot of them can repair your scope.

Bob

 

[mercdeuceman]

Looking for a manual for a model 740 Sun Machine.

Thanks

 

[Fullraceflathead]

Hello,
If anyone out there has the Manual for the Sun 1215 Engine Analyzer I'll Buy it or Copies of it PDF's even. I have the Machine and would like to have the Manual.
I have an extra Sun Sleuth One Engine Analyzer Machine if any ones interested.

 

[21G]

Interesting stuff...please keep it going.

 

[jpnewlin]

This banner is part of my Sun collection:



It is about 8ft long

 

[aba]

I'm new here. Becaue of the Sun.

On the other side of the ocean Sun Motortesters were selled too. And now I have one, a broken one. Type 1212. Basically the same as the 1215 in the States if I look at the pictures I found on the internet. But without manual, not functioning and I'm trying to restore it. I get help from [email protected] but it is a hard job without anything (spares, technical information.

I read somewere the Sun must have a so called coil test. What does that mean? and how to do this coil test? (please note the scope is probably missing a circuit board and the analog digital screen hase no vertical deflection and now in repair (I try) so I can do nothing at the moment).

 

[Vintagecars62]

I have two Sun Interrogators, one with cart, one, without. I hooked it to my 69 vette, with the code for the vette input, and with only two cables attached it shut down each cylinder, recorded the resulting lower RPM, then gave a list with a graph showing the efficiency of each cylinder!

 

[mbazinet]

Hello from Maine I just picked up a nice Sun 1115 unit in good shape. Does anyone have any tips for me on usage ? Its been a long time since I have used this type of equipment. I now have a older project car from the 60's and this will sure help me 'fine tune" things.

 

[engineer2]

Sun must have a so called coil test

Not sure of that particular model, but a coil test usually calculates the primary resistance of the coil and will have you momentarily pull a plug wire from a running engine to determine secondary output in kV.

There is an older thread here.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166746

 

[engineer2]

Sun 1115 unit in good shape. Does anyone have any tips for me on usage

There is an older thread here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106746
It's funny that manuals for older test equipment are hard to find online, but they are readily for sale.

 

[48548]

My dad has two, but I only have a pic of the newer one. The older must be from the 60's.

 

[engineer2]

The Sun 2001 is from the early 80's I think. In the mid-80's everyone (Bear, Allen, Sun) came out with digital/microprocessor based analyzers.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 9xx series Sun was from the late 60's and the 1xxx series is from the mid-late 70's. The Sun 1015 and 1115 were highly regarded units at the time.

 

[sirstude]

I had a 2001 on trial in the late 70's. We moved to the new shop in late 1979 and I had it before that. I was not impressed with it. The 1015 that I had was a much better machine. The 2001 was really susceptible to voltage and incorrect hookups. I toasted a board the second day, when I was in a hurry and connected it like the 1015. Thanks for the picture though, I was not sure it was a 2001 for the model number.

btw I picked up a pdf manual out on the "E" site and it has a hose diagram for the 1115.

 

[mbazinet]

I am using a newly acquired and re-furbished SUN 1115 to work on an older 1966 Mercedes 230SL

No electronics on this car so this unit is fantastic. Same i learned on in High School.

 

[Ronny]

Hey it's 2020 . I 'm in Australia and I have a VANE 3080 analyser. It's an Australian made copy of a sun i think. So i'm looking for a timing gun and any circuit drawings for the CRT scope. My machine was bought from the estate of the First owner and I haven't plugged it in yet. I also repair older Mercedes for a living so old school tools work better for me, no OBII etc on my clients cars.

 

[SunMachineGuy]

Currently selling my Sun 504 Distributor Tester w/ Cabinet - Original Paint & Running - $2300 OBO/Trades

Sun DT-504 Distributor Tester with Sun Roller Cabinet-
Runs and still with original paint
Kept in a garage since the 70's
Rare find in excellent condition
Have video of running
Tester spins and dials go up
$2,300 OBO/Trades

Located in Lancaster PA
Contact for details
Ben,
717-872-4018

 

[Flatmeat]

Hey it's 2020 . I 'm in Australia and I have a VANE 3080 analyser. It's an Australian made copy of a sun i think. So i'm looking for a timing gun and any circuit drawings for the CRT scope. My machine was bought from the estate of the First owner and I haven't plugged it in yet. I also repair older Mercedes for a living so old school tools work better for me, no OBII etc on my clients cars.

Hey sorry to revive an old thread in 2024. I just picked up an empty base cabinet that used to house a 3080. It has the operating manual inside, do you want it? I'm in Perth

 

[Jack_K]

Hey it's 2020 . I 'm in Australia and I have a VANE 3080 analyser. It's an Australian made copy of a sun i think. So i'm looking for a timing gun and any circuit drawings for the CRT scope. My machine was bought from the estate of the First owner and I haven't plugged it in yet. I also repair older Mercedes for a living so old school tools work better for me, no OBII etc on my clients cars.

Vane machines were originally their own design but then became rebranded Blackhawk/Marquette machines in the late 60s (Bear in the 80s). Vane was the local importer/manufacturer for Blackhawk/Applied Power products. Even Vane's own designs then had Applied Power badges on them. There's a Vane distributor machine which appears that they took a lot of inspiration from an Allen machine.

Hey sorry to revive an old thread in 2024. I just picked up an empty base cabinet that used to house a 3080. It has the operating manual inside, do you want it? I'm in Perth

I'd be interested in getting this so that I can upload it to archive.org

 

[469 runner]

I found a rare one. A distributor machine made in the 1980's, EDT-5001. Probably the last model made by Sun. Everything seems to work fine, except the original testing leads are rotted, so not able to hook up to a distributor yet. I have no idea how to use this as all the markings on the console are symbols, this unit was made in Brazil and probably made to sell to a wider market. If there is an operators manual available I would love to have one.

 

[Bob-old55]

Please do not trash the old instruments! I have a friend asking me to help fix his Sun Diagnostics machine, that I believe has a dead EPROM. If I get to see the thing and test the eprom, a 1987 memory chip, I believe it will have been degraded over time. Everything else is repairable, although some electronics will be very nearly unobtainable.
The point is, the technology is repairable, as long as some of us old guys are still around to remember how to test the Z80 and other old computers! Replacing the innards with modern instruments makes no sense as the Sun was designed for old technology cars, and modern test equipment is designed for new technology cars. OBDII wasn't thought of when small blocks were still new! or even when they were a bit old!
A restored Sun era instrument will be a valuable antique, and may well be already, so gutting one for something modern can move in will NOT fix the Sun or the cars it was designed to work on!
Please do not trash old tech, but conserve it and try to find as many manuals as you can for reference, so 'old computer geeks' can fix it for you.
So as soon as I get the make/model/year/serial# from my friend, I will be searching for manuals. As lone as I can burn a new EPROM, or a modern replacement, I can fix his machine, or the computer at least, ...the CRO may require scarce parts!
(NB: EPROMs are often specified as 'Good for 20 years!' which sounded great when they were new, and freshly programmed, but 1987 is a bit more than 20 years ago! So it only takes 1 memory location to self-erase, and the program may never go again!)

 

[Bob-old55]

Vane machines were originally their own design but then became rebranded Blackhawk/Marquette machines in the late 60s (Bear in the 80s). Vane was the local importer/manufacturer for Blackhawk/Applied Power products. Even Vane's own designs then had Applied Power badges on them. There's a Vane distributor machine which appears that they took a lot of inspiration from an Allen machine.


I'd be interested in getting this so that I can upload it to archive.org

Gooday Perth, from Sunshine Coast, Qld. You mentioned archive.org I may need to find it sometime. I have been asked to help fix a 'Sun' no make or model numbers YET! but I do believe the manuals and circuits will be out there somewhere. My background is electronics and old time computers, including Z80 which I believe is in the SUN I have been asked to consider fixing.
I remember both SUN and VANE from my days 'improving' Ford V8s, but haven't worked on any yet. Maybe we can help each other?

 

[Flatmeat]

I'm happy to post it to someone who wants it. Does this platform have a messaging system? If so send me a message with an email and we can sort something out

 

[Bob-old55]

I am still waiting for my mate to tell me the model number! OK to be a PDF if already scanned, or I can scan on a good quality scanner and create the PDF file, then return the manual and a copy of the PDF if you like. My name is Bob Harper, and emails to 'bigpond.com' so one word in all lower case, at that email address will get to me. I can then give you the details you may need. I am new to this board so not up with what they have.

 

[Jack_K]

Gooday Perth, from Sunshine Coast, Qld. You mentioned archive.org I may need to find it sometime. I have been asked to help fix a 'Sun' no make or model numbers YET! but I do believe the manuals and circuits will be out there somewhere. My background is electronics and old time computers, including Z80 which I believe is in the SUN I have been asked to consider fixing.
I remember both SUN and VANE from my days 'improving' Ford V8s, but haven't worked on any yet. Maybe we can help each other?

I'm on the northside of Brisbane so not too far away. Once you find the model I can help with finding someone with info. I know of a few guys with SUN documents.

Maybe you could help with fixing the CRTs on my Allen machines. Some of the computer boards also need repairs, they are some form of multibus.