New Day Timer question

[Eric Garland]

I have a less than 25 miles on my New.Day timer. Last night it starting making a loud "squeaking /chirping sound at around mid throttle. Took it off and cleaned it and it was fine for a few minutes but then started doing it again. A skip developed with the sound but I was also having some carburetor issues (Kingston L4 ) that I'm sure contributed to the poor running.
I at first the sound was coming from the fan but it stops if i put a bit of forward pressure on the timer.
There was a bit of dust inside the cover from what time it has been ran.
Any ideas?

[Tadpole]

Make sure your cam nut isn’t too tight. I tightened one too much and it caused the brush to run crooked and make a similar noise? I’m sure there will be better advice soon.

[Norman Kling]

It could be that your cam shaft has shifted forward. How do the timing gears line up? If the cam gear is ahead of the crankshaft gear that could be the reason. The cam bearings have a thrust surface and if it is worn out could cause the camshaft to move forward. Also check the nut which holds things together in front to see if it might have shifted allowing the gear or the rotor to move forward.
Norm

[Eric Garland]

Thanks. I saw a "torque spec" on the forum here somewhere and torqued it to that. Not sure if it was correct but it didn't seem excessive. I am going double check that again.
Norm that is a great suggestion. I will take a look at the gears. Is that a difficult issue to resolve if that is the case.?

[Scott_Conger]

Eric

be warned that any 'torque spec' you find for ANYTHING on a T is at the very best, simply an educated guess, and more likely a WAG.

[Eric Garland]

Yeah I had the feeling Scott. I am going to go back and revisit that one.

[Norman Kling]

If the gear on the camshaft has shifted forward but the nut is tight, your calm bearings might need to be replaced. You would need to remove all the valve springs and put something like a clothes pin on each of the lifters to keep them all the way up against the valve guides. Then with the cover off the front of the engine. There are two set screws on the side of the engine above the valve cover. those would be removed and then the cam shaft pulled out. Then you would need to purchase some new cam bearings from one of the suppliers and replace on the camshaft. Then put everything back. If any of the valve guides should fall into the crankcase while the cam shaft is out, you would then need to pull the engine to fix. You might be lucky if you remove the inspection plate under the engine to find the keeper and put it back in with a clothes pin. If not you would need to pull the engine.
Norm

[TXGOAT2]

A shorter brush might allow you to run the timer. Making the slot in the brush holder that engages the pin in the slding brush slightly deeper might also help. If your coils are way out of adjustment, excess current draw can destroy the timer in short order. The camshaft should not have too much fore and aft play.

[Eric Garland]

Removed the timer cover. They seem ok and in line to me. Also i could not detect any fore or aft movement at all in the camshaft

[John kuehn]

Eric
What type of timer did you have before you installed the New Day. If it was a roller timer check to see if your New Day is the same width as the roller timer was. It would seem that you New Day could be a bit wider since it’s running to close to the New Day timer face.
This is just a guess but something is causing it to close to the face of the New Day.

[Eric Garland]

John,
I was running an Anderson. This New Day was doing great at first. I am putting a new seal in as I realized I was still running the felt seal and brass plate.

[TWrenn]

One thing I didn't see anyone mention is the type of New Day ur running, cause you may just happen, altho rare anymore, to have the model with the infamous "S" on the cover. Those were made for a short time a while back and were junk. As are a lot of the repop brushes like I show here. I had one of these on my Fordor and I had to take it off and clean and "machine" it every 250 miles or so til I got tired of it and luckily located one of the remaining TW timers that were in existence and put it on and no more trouble. I have the TW on 2 cars, the 3rd has T.Fire which I may eventually go back to stock with the TW timer also. I swear BY the TW timer! I swore AT that New Day!

[Norman Kling]

How was the face of the timer where the contacts are located? Was it scratched up and looked worn? I suspect the problem might not be in the timer but the brass plate could have been interfering with the brush. Since you are placing a neoprene seal, you can remove that plate. Also be sure to have a thick enough gasket behind the block and the timer cover. That will push the cover a few thousandths forward away from the brush. I have a New Day timer on one of my cars. It was on there over 30 years ago when I bought the car and have had no problems with it. I don't even need to clean it. The other two have Anderson timers. No problems with that either
Norm

[Original Smith]

I've been using original New Days for over 50 years. They are the best. I understand the most recent ones made by Tom Carnegie are very good, but don't need to try one, as I have a good supply of originals. The brushes on the new ones as pictured are a bit wider than the originals.

[Oldav8tor]

I have over 5000 miles on a New Day repop by Tip Top timers - Mark Hutchinson. Make sure you use an alignment tool when you reinstall the timing cover, otherwise your brush could be off center in the cap.

[Eric Garland]

Thanks everyone for the input. Norm I will cut me a thicker gasket and give that a shot. The brass plate is now removed and waiting on a replacement gasket from Langs that I can use as a pattern. Tim I have a alignment tool ready to go. I see you are a fellow Ham. KJ4FPM
I am in a holding pattern at the moment waiting on some nice stuff to be delivered. Really excited to see how it all does. New(rebuilt) switch from Ben Martin. Rebuilt Holly NH from Russ Potter. New coils from Ron Patterson.