ducatiss 1 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 I have an E30 320i. There seems to be a vacuum line missing off the distributor ie theres a place for a line but theres not one there ...so where should it go? Anyone know? The most obvious places around the throttle body or intake manifold seem to be blanked off with little bits of blank hose. Any help appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 kinda hard to tell w/o pics but there is no reason that there should be a vacuum line off the dizzy.....it doesnt make vacuum. the blanks are normal on pre FL 320i's. the car runs fine? wouldnt worry about it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petone 0 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 No, I thought the advance/retard was controlled by the vacuum, there should be a line going into a small round metal piece on the side of the dizzy. I think on my mates 320 the line ran from the dizzy to the top/back of the manifold (exhaust side) Is the car running fine? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topless 13 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 there should be 2 pipes coming from the advance/retard mechanism on the dizzy, one controlling advance and the other the retard. Best I can describe it is the pipe that comes off the outer part of the vacuum unit (facing away from the dizzy) goes to the lhs of the throttle body to a small takeoff pipe to the side/under it. The pipe off the vacuum unit (that faces the dizzy) goes to the other side of the throttle body (rhs) to a similar small pipe takeoff. There are variations to this but this is the one I use most often. If this does not make sense I will try to get some pics up to better explain. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 oops my bad go the 80's Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 19, 2005 Found some old cruddy pics from when I had a 320 - not very clear - but you can see the line and where it should go to roughly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 19, 2005 Tucks into that huge bunch of vacuum lines - you could probably steal the one from the big brass looking idle control thingee if you really don't have a spare one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ducatiss 1 Report post Posted October 19, 2005 Thanks for the info - much appreciated. Yes, the car does run fine without it but if its there then thought it should be connected to something lol . Thanks Andrew for the pics - they will be most useful - Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petone 0 Report post Posted October 20, 2005 Question - I know the spark needs to be advanced as rpm build but does the dizzy do this with that vacuum line or through centrifugal force (like the rev limiter)? If the vacuum line does the advance as speed builds then you should more top end power. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 20, 2005 Question - I know the spark needs to be advanced as rpm build but does the dizzy do this with that vacuum line or through centrifugal force (like the rev limiter)? If the vacuum line does the advance as speed builds then you should more top end power. vacuum line Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topless 13 Report post Posted October 20, 2005 Ok, hope these pics help a bit further. The advance can be taken to the point on Andrew's pic or to the point on the throttle body. The retard goes to the other point on the throttle body. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ducatiss 1 Report post Posted October 23, 2005 Brilliant - Couldnt be any clearer than that - Thanks a lot - much appreciated Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites