Dizzy FAQ

Identifying your FJ40/60 Distributor

Year	Type of Advance	Notes
E-1968	Vacuum Advance	E-'68: Extra small distributor, vacuum advance (correctly called "non-smog", also sold as "non-USA"). Toyota still sells the non-USA distributor under the p/n 19100-61080. Mechanical: 900 rpm advance begins 1800 rpm 18* 3200 rpm 30* All in Vacuum Advance: 4" adv begins 12" 16* all in The E-1968 USA distributors, and all non-EGR distributors sold for the rest of the world (i.e. Canada) have a decent curve from the factory. SOR and others have sold a fair number of them into the US market. Cap held on by clips.
1969-74	Vacuum Retard	69-74: Extra Small distributor, but w/ vac retard. 69-74 dizzy cap is 3-1/8" diameter The early (69-74) points distributors are a Toyota improved copy of a Delco distributor, and as such, are crap. Subject to leaky retards, sticking breaker plates, eroded weights, worn shafts & bushings....
75-Early 76	Vacuum Retard	75 & early 76: small distributor, completely redesigned, very good quality points distributor. Since they use an igniter, the points last forever. Vacuum retard. Use with a ballast resistor. 75-77 dizzy cap is 3-1/2" diameter Cap held on by clips.
early 76-77	Vacuum Advance	Late '76 &77: Same as above, but w/ vac advance. Cap held on by clips. (9/77 on held down with three screws)
1978	Vacuum Advance AND Retard!	'78: redesigned with medium. size screw down, waterproof cap, all electronic ignition. Vacuum advance & retard. The vac canister has 2 vac fittings. Outer fitting is advance, inner fitting is retard. 78-80 small cap distributors have nylon(?) plastic bushings for the advance weights, the same pickup as the later ones (only difference in the two part numbers is about 1" longer wire leads for the 81-87 ones) and doesnt require the side cover swap. They do have two bushings for shaft support instead of the sealed bearing and bushing combo of the 81-87 distributors. The air gap for the reluctor is .008-.016". Anywhere in that range is fine. The signal generator is a go/ no-go type of thing. It either generates a timing pulse or not. It cannot cause a weak spark, but it could cause an intermittent spark. The igniter will not consistently fire one cylinder, but not another. It will either shut down for good, or misfire erratically. The igniter doesn't know if it is hitting #1 or #4 or whatever. It just makes a spark after it gets the trigger from the dizzy. The dwell is built into the igniter, and it is variable w/ RPM. The 75-87 dizzy all have the same advance guts so can be recurved easily. The springs can be changed and the stop pin can be modified. The resistance value for the igniter is roughly the same for all 78-87. The 78 cal spec dissy will be fully electronic (no points). The vac canister has 2 vac fittings. Outer fitting is advance, inner fitting is retard.
79-80	Dual Advance	'79-80: dual diaphragm advance. One big advance stage for normal operation, small second stage for extra advance at hi-altitude Cap held down with three screws.
81-87	Dual Advance	81-87 distributor body was redesigned to use a larger cap. The larger cap is less prone to cross arcing inside. It's also less prone to arcing down the outside in wet conditions. Same dual diaphragm advance introduced in '79. The 81-87 distributor is a work of art. The shaft spins on sealed ball bearings, the breaker plate advances on a proprietary large ball bearing ring, the weights pivot on teflon inserts, the distributor is sealed against dirt & water contamination via O-Rings, The cap provides for a source of fresh, clean air when connected correctly. The smaller port should go to a distributor filter assembly that will be mounted on the inside of the firewall, and poke through into the engine bay. The larger port goes to a VCV that is usually attached to the bottom side of the air filter housing on the passenger side. These late model distributors don't fail. The FJ60 distributors will run a long time. The only problems they develop is a leaky vac advancer and the stop pin bushing ** can wear. On the 81-87 the OUTER vacuum advance diaphram nipple is capped off when used on a non smog engine. It was/is the high altitude compensator. The 81-87 ignitor does have variable dwell (like the newest Pertronix) and has self protect to keep from frying itself if the key is left on (like the newest Pertronix). The 81-87 ignition is uber reliable because the electronics are not all packed into the hot, vibrating dizzy. The finned aluminum heat sink seems to be of benefit also. Toyota moved the Ignitor to the inner fender from the head to help keep heat and vibration down. The air gap for the reluctor is .008-.016". Anywhere in that range is fine. The signal generator is a go/ no-go type of thing. It either generates a timing pulse or not. It cannot cause a weak spark, but it could cause an intermittent spark. The igniter will not consistently fire one cylinder, but not another. It will either shut down for good, or misfire erratically. The igniter doesn't know if it is hitting #1 or #4 or whatever. It just makes a spark after it gets the trigger from the dizzy. 23 degrees of centrifical advance 6 degrees of HAC advance 18 degrees VAC advance Cap held down with three screws. When the finned aluminum ignitor came out in the 81 model year, the ballast resistor/wire was finally done away with.
88-92	NO Advance	88-92 distributor redesigned w/ out advance. Distributor pickup is a crank angle sensor, advance curve is controlled by computer.

Additional Notes

** The stop pin is down inside the distributor, under the breaker plate. It is supposed to have a plastic bushing around it. The governor (advance mechanism) slot rests against the stop pin at idle. As the revs increase, the governor moves off the pin until the other side of the slot contacts the pin, about 10.5 degrees later. The plastic bushing tends to crumble, exposing the much smaller steel core of the stop pin. Now the rest angle is much retarded, and the max governor angle is more advanced. This means the distributor which already had a greater than ideal advance curve has about 6 more degrees than stock.

You can see the stop pin without disassembling the dist. by looking through the inspection window in the breaker plate. Chances are it will be missing the plastic bushing, because 90% of them are after 10 years in service.

In summary, you'll know if the stop pin is a problem by either:
1. Visual inspection
2. Live testing w/ advance timing light
3. testing on the distributor machine.

You'll know if the vac advancer is a problem by:
1. live testing w/ vac pump on engine
2. static testing w/ vac pump & visual inspection

You'll know if the advance curve is mismatched to the engine's requirements:
1. by setting to the best performance at peak torque (1800-2200rpm) and then finding idle timing too advanced or retarded.

Misc Notes gathered from many sources

All Land Cruiser distributors for F and 2F applications interchange mechanically. The later (FJ60) ones use large caps that require the matching engine side cover plate which will also interchange. It has an indent to accommodate the larger diameter.

Be aware there are 2 different heights of distributor hold down clamps. If the tall (early model) distributor clamp is used on a distributor machined for a short clamp, then the distributor will not seat on the block. This is will result in NO OIL to the engine as the pump is not being turned!!! Make sure the correct clamp is used w/ the distributor!

All E-87 distributors have mechanical advance. Curves vary from year to year.

The dizzys are all the same for 81-87 FJ40 & FJ60, USA-spec. Earlier dizzys have different curves because of the different cylinder head design.

It's really only those few distributors installed in Cruisers sold in a tiny backwards market called USA that could use recurved. and that is if the dizzy is smog-compliant and the engine is not. Like installing a FJ60 dizzy into a F engine.

The ballast resistor is matched to the coil, not the distributor. Early Cruisers have no ballast resistor and use a coil w/ higher impedance. Later Cruisers added a ballast resistor to go w/ a lower impedance coil.

Igniter Information

Year	Description	Notes	Wiring Notes
75-77	use w/ points dizzy	The 75-77 points igniters are completely different, designed to be triggered by points.	Black/Yellow from ignition switch -- To ballast resistor [end opposite coil positive(+)] and igniter Black from igniter -- To coil neg (-) Red from igniter -- To distributor White/Black from igniter -- To ground Also a Black/Yellow from coil positive -- To starter bypass contact (for full voltage to coil during starting).
78-80	black box, use w/ electronic dizzy	All the 78-87 igniters are interchangeable. The coils are slightly different.	78-80 coils work with an inline ballast resistor wire in the vehicle harness. It's possible to run the 78-80 igniter& coils on full 12V with no ill effects. Ballast bypass moves into the emissions computer on 79-80 models. The ECM bypass is shown on the 79-80 wiring diagram, but some diagrams still show the starter bypass terminal, though it actually disappears from 79-newer trucks. On a 1978 igniter, there is a dual pole connector that receives 12V power for the coil on one terminal and 12V power for the igniter on the other terminal. Ground is through the mounting feet.
81-87	Aluminum finned box, use w/ electronic dizzy	All the 78-87 igniters are interchangeable. The coils are slightly different.	The wire that goes to the + terminal on coil, is the wire that gets +12V power. The other wire goes directly to igniter, that is tach output. Ground is through the mounting feet, so make sure those are clean, and apply some grease when mounting, to prevent future corrosion. When the finned aluminum ignitor came out in the 81 model year w/ variable dwell, the ballast resistor/wire was finally done away with.

For those of you with >78 full electronic ignition with the magnetic pickup coil, the cheapest spare/replacement NAPA igniter is a TP50, fits dodge/plymouth/chrysler 72-92. It's like 20-30 bucks, and you can get the connector that fits it for a few dollars more. Hookup is as such (clockwise looking in, pointy bit at pin 1 in 3 o'clock
position):

3 - no connection (not even there on some units)
2 - ignition coil -
1 - ignition + from key (black/yellow originally)
4 - pickup coil (polarity is arbitrary)
5 - pickup coil

They seem to last about ten years so don't rely on it (carry a spare).