I am looking for any recommendations on 4 gas analyzers, and do the handheld less expensive units work? Thanks in advance! Geno
On vintage cars, transparent spark plugs are good enough for me. As a bonus will work regardless of the exhaust system installed, and do allow to adjust individual cylinders so perfect for k-jet or multiple carbs.
Transparent spark plugs are pretty Victorian and not accurate. Especially when catalytic converters may be involved. Without reading 4 gasses optimal adjustment isn't possible and any kind of diagnosis is out of the question. The single most used engine diagnostic tool I have is the 4 gas machine. I used to get a used Sun 4 gas, have it serviced and use that. Problem now is they are very hard to find and nearly impossible to support. I am now using a Bridge Analyzers 4 gas automotive unit. It is handy in the sense it small and portable so can be used on the road. It has a serious downside. Gas analyzers really do not like water. The old Sun and Allen units had tremendous water separation and trapping capability. Evidently the people at Bridge have no understanding of the occasional need to test exhaust at cold startup with condensation present. The unit will need to go back for repair. Stupid design in that sense. I really miss my old Sun.
I am afraid there is no satisfactory mid-range products for engine tuning tools. If it is not expensive or primitive it's crap. I do have a sun distributor tester that I really like. However these are bulky and even massive once on top of their drawer. Getting the tester tuned did cost me $700. A used professional analyser wouldn't be any cheaper to fix or calibrate. Also an affordable (gunson) analyser is not a vast improvement compared to the cheap transparent plugs. At the end of the day I buy the tools that are not stocked anymore by my mechanic and ask him to perform modern tests on his accurate tools. Most mechanics do have a proper analyser.
Your 1st line is very true. 10 years ago it was far easier to buy old professional quality equipment. Most has since disappeared. And the people who could keep it running likewise have disappeared. Oddly there are several sources for good vintage distributor machines or parts, or service. Not cheap but available. Considering how few people need them it is odd to me.
Rifledriver, your input on the Bridge analyzer was really timely. I was looking at them and considering buying one, rather than resurrecting my old Sun machine. I shut down my shop in 2000 and went into an entirely different business, but now after 22 years away, I can stand working on my cars. The SUN gas analyzer was a good machine, but still required a bit of maintenance to keep running right. After parking them in the back of my shop for 22 years it will be interesting to see if they can be brought back to life. The Sun distributor machine was wonderful for doing Ferrari distributors with their multiple points. Now that I have Testarossa's and 328's it's just not needed. I'm keeping it however in case I ever get an older Ferrari again.
Sun distributor machines, especially the later models are getting pretty valuable. Someone in the midwest as I recall reproduces parts for them, restores them and sells for old hotrodders etc or just as an ornament for high end mancave garages. Do not let a good one slip through your fingers. 4 gas machines even though many times more useful do not have nearly the interest or value. I simply cannot consider running a shop without one. Far too important a diagnostic tool. As far as Ferrari distributors lots of ways to synchronize points. To me the machine is far more for repairing and synchronizing advance mechanisms.
I used my distributor machine mostly for the 308 distributors to set up where the second set of points was oriented compared to the first. PLUS being able to just watch the advance as the marks moved on the dial made checking the advance super easy. Beats doing it with a timing light on the car. I remember setting up another type of car that had four sets of points. Too many years ago to recall. Could have been a Ghibli. And I can't imagine working on cars without an exhaust gas analyzer. The carbureted 308s with their individual sniffer ports were MUCH easier to adjust using an analyzer. I worked on cars from the late sixties to 2000, and there's no way I could pretend to tune "by ear" a V-8 or V-12 Ferrari. Oregon with their emission check stations kept me pretty busy, trying to get a lot of difficult cars to pass emissions testing every two years. Had a steady stream of Ferraris, and even four different Citroen SM's with their three weber DCNF's coming in every two years, so they could be made to pass, and then back again so they ran right. This was REALLY challenging work, with a very fine line between running clean and barely running. NOT possible to do without the right tools. I once ran a 12 cylinder Ferrari through, that I just could NOT get it clean enough with all 12 cylinders firing, and frankly I SHUT the fuel off to half the cylinders, ran it through as a six cylinder and got it to pass. The car sounded really weird, the guy at DEQ KNEW I was pulling a fast one, but I got the certificate. They all knew me and were used to me showing up with every odd car in Portland.
