MTFCA Forum

At a local flea market with my wife sometime back, late last summer I think, I bought a large box of assorted Model T parts for $10. Included were a bunch, 6 or 7, timers. Our '21 Touring had a New Day timer on it but the cam seal leaks a tiny bit so I've been removing the timer and cleaning it out occasionally. Since one of the "new" timers was a roller type that looked good, and I figured that since roller types actually need a drop of oil from time to time, I should install one. The car never ran an better with the roller timer and began to run worse and worse. I parked it and left it for a couple of months. I have some health issues that prevent me from being able to work on the car, or anything else, at times.
Yesterday I felt like working on it again, so I cleaned the plugs and changed the timer back to the cleaned New Day that was on it before. It runs great again. After removing the roller timer I inspected it and found fine gray-black powder in side. I believe someone before me had tried, for some reason, to lubricate it with dry graphite lube. Evidently the lube is/was conductive and was grounding, at least partially, between the segments in the timer body where it should be insulated. Lesson learned- clean any old lube or other foreign matter out before installing a timer. New Day timers for us from this day forward!

New Days are really good timers. One of the best and ranks near the top in my book. Simple design. It always seems to me that the simplest always works the best.

As Tom found out, graphite and timers don't work. Like John said too, the simple things are often the best. Thats why the TW timer to me at least, is also "among the best". Very simple, I love mine, on 2 cars, T.F. on the other..was on it when I bought the car. Thinking about putting my other TW on it over winter. They run great. Funny thing is, I DID have the "newest version" of the New Day (post "S" model) and it failed miserably. After installing the TW it never misses a beat. Funny how what's great for one, isn't for another!

Someone may have put graphite in the timer, which will cause problems. Another possibility is that it did not have enough oil and was wearing rapidly, which generated powdery metal particles and other debris, which might look like powdered graphite and might behave about the same way as far as tending to short the timer segments. Roller timers need frequent oiling with a light oil. I don't know whether synthetic oil would cause issues with a roller timer. I doubt it, but it's a possibility. An excellent oil for roller timers would be Marvel Mystery Oil, or 10W non-detergent motor oil. I'd use Marvel Oil. I believe a roller timer would perform better with a modern camshaft seal to keep crankcase oil out. Crankcase oil can contain carbon particles and metal particles, as well as moisture and gum. Ford recommended frequent oiling and ocasional cleaning. Roller timers generate some debris in normal operation, and frequent application of clean, light oil will help clean out such debris and reduce wear to a minimum while preventing hard cold starting, poor performance during warm up, and poor high speed performance.

Coils that are out of adjustment can damage timers in short order. Timer issues are often related to poor coil adjustment. Worn insulation on wiring between the coils and the timer can cause problems ranging from engine misses and backfiring to broken arms and wrecked starters. Wiring is especially prone to insulation wear at wire loom clips and around the timer itself. Timer wiring needs to be kept away from the spark plug cables.

Thom

I remember when you first came to the Forum. I am glad to see that you are still enjoying your car.

Thanks, I believe it was late 2016. We got our '21 Touring in September that year. I was working on finishing the restoration and had planned to drive it for the first time on July 18, 2017 but another driver crossed the center and hit me head-on that day (I was driving our 1956 Ford F100) when I was coming home from work. I was in two different hospitals for quite some time following. I will live with some effects of the accident and resulting reconstructive surgery for the remainder of my life.