Set gap in distributor?

[eurasiaoverland]

Today I dismantled my distributor to clean it out. As I unscrewed a plate from the housing, I noticed that a magnetic component stuck to a teardrop-shaped cam on the rotor shaft.

As you can probably tell, I am new to petrol engines, so my question is, does this thing need to be set at an exact distance from the cam, or should it just be set such that it is close but does not touch?

What is this thing anyway? Is it just a pickup for the tacho, or does it set engine timing?

Thanks!

 

[alumarine]

There should be what's called an air gap I believe.
What motor is this?

 

[eurasiaoverland]

There should be what's called an air gap I believe.
What motor is this?

Sorry, I knew I forgot something.

It's a 3RZ-FE

So an air gap just means 'close, but not touching'?

 

[nissanh]

I played with several 4afe motor distributors. Yes, the air gap is something like 0.18 mm. Make sure to use a feeler gauge and set the gap. Spin it few rounds and make sure nothing is coming in contact. You have to keep the same gap for the pickup coil as well.

 

[alumarine]

For some reason I'm thinking the feeler gauge should be brass.
I might be wrong about that.

 

[eurasiaoverland]

Thanks for the replies guys. I just got out my 3RZ-FE engine service manual and it's actually stated there. The air gap should be 0.2 to 0.4 mm. Doesn't mention anything about using a brass feeler gauge.

I'll tighten it down with the 0.30 mm gauge in the gap.

Thanks!

 

[nissanh]

I used a metal feeler gauge to set timing on all 4afe motors. I set it between 0.18 and 0.2 mm. It is damn close and so far so good.

I also installed a new bearing (SKF) and an oil seal to the shaft. the only place to buy those is on ebay.

 

[csp]

A feeler gauge, or gap, has nothing to do with timing nissanh. You're setting the gap on the magnetic pickup.

 

[nissanh]

Right

A feeler gauge, or gap, has nothing to do with timing nissanh. You're setting the gap on the magnetic pickup.

Sorry, I somehow typed timing.