trying to learn.

I know the reluctor gap on a mopar electronic ignition is suppose to be set at 0.008". in car trouble diagnosing threads commonly see folks saying to check this gap to possibly cure ailments.

What I am unsure of is what the consequences of it being larger would be?
for instance what if it was 0.016" or 0.024"?

what's effected? starting, idling, part throttle, WOT, etc...?

All of the above, that's a huge gap.

make sure to use a brass feeler gauge also..very important to use brass.

it can and will bite you.

the closer the better as long as it does not touch the reluctor but 8 is the norm.

now the pertronix points conversion has a hall cell and magnets like a stock unit per say and uses a .030 gap

Use brass gauge at .008, large gap will affect the way it idles.

OT I'd mark the round dist base/mainifold to be able to return it to that place then loosen the dist clamp being carefull not to put any side pressure on the housing as you rotate it around in a circle and check each of the teeth to the magnet and find the tooth that protrudes the most even a thou or 2 then working w that tooth pull the vac can thru it's travel w a Mityvac vac pump all the while moving the housing to keep the magnet lined up dead even w that tooth and find the point of least gap in it's range of travel and gap it at .006-8" being carefull not to lean on the housing & skew your measurements. Rotor phasing: Then drill a 1/2" hole in the top flat of a junk cap 2/3 of the way between the center and the #1 terminal (closer to the outside #1 terminal) and idling (assuming at a high enough vac that the can is maxed out & if not use the Mityvac) note if the rotor is dead on or nearly dead on w that terminal. Only vac adv will change phasing & will move it CCW on a SB and CW on a BB from the at rest no vacuum position. a 1/2" hole in your current cap will let ionized air out if your OK w the appearance.

Yes you guessed right & I dont think a regular steel blade messes up the tooth as it's just steel the same as the feeler & same on the magnet it just attracts it also like it does the tooth but it doesnt completely touch but I've had the magnet get too close & chip a tooth (or 2) so not a prob from steel/steel contact but the steel feeler gauges sticks to the mag strong & you cant get a good feel for proper clearance. You could get the gap close though.

it can also zap you...like a charged condencer will.

remember in small engine class it was a thing to do for the next class,charge up condencers and put them on the bench

walk up and grab it and kungpow you got shocked.

You can substitute a matchbook cover for the .008" brass feeler gauge if need be.

I always notice that too big a gap and when you have the timing light on it the timing will "jump around" Never really noticed anything else

I once had a car that (once it was warmed up) would die every time I pushed the clutch in. Other than not wanting to idle, it ran fine. The problem was the reluctor gap.

That pick-coil unit is basically and AC generator. It creates a very small ac voltage every time the reluctor pole passes the magnet and coil. It induces a small ac current that the ECU sees to determine when to fire the plug just like when points open. If the gap is to large it will not greate the ac signal and the car wont start. If the gap is wrong but it still makes enough signal to run it can change the timing and the dwell a little causing a weaker spark. Cant say I ever had one hard to start from the gap off as they either did spark and start or did not if to wide a gap. Ron

One problem not covered yet: Terrible full throttle performance.
The air gap in my MP distributor slipped to .020 more than once. I had it at the drags for the first time since it was finished. It ran fine at idle and part throttle, but when the green lights came up and I went full throttle, the engine popped and sputtered to a miserable ET.

the FMS said it and I have had the key on and got zaped with a steel feeler



go ahead and try it,see if i am wrong

I used a business card, if I remember right, I think it was .009 so it was close enough.

As for symptoms- my dad's car's gap was too much and it was very hard to start once hot, but would fire OK once it cooled off. I don't remember how big the gap was but setting it to ~.008 fixed the hot start problem.