I can think of about a half a dozen places where a old engine analyzer is just sitting around, former mechanics have them, I was just wondering if anyone on here actually still uses them? Just never really hear about them, so had me curious.
I don't use mine much, ever since the scope quit working a few years ago. I did fire up the exhaust analyzer (two gas) a few years ago. I do have a whole bunch of stuff stored in the cabinet, which I use stilll
I have a small Sun Engine Analyzer (SP4101) that I use quite a bit on all of my carbed vehicles. Works great for tune ups.
When I went to school for auto mech/ autobody, our shop instructor had saved all the old machines and kept them cleaned up and on display, organized by age. They were really cool to look at but they never got used or showed any of the students how to use them, unfortunately. I think it'd be really cool to see a tech article on how to use one, since we all seem to know some guy whose got one stashed away somewhere.
I scanned part of the Sun manual for how to use a scope http://www.selectric.org/sun/scope.html if you want to see how they work, and what you can do with it.
I still have a mini one from Sears that I don't use anymore.. I used it to set the dwell on point type distributors with it... Dwell called for 28-32 degrees, I'd always set them @ 30.. And man, they ran oh so sweeet!
a scope is good for firing voltages, but operation can be a bit overwhelming unless you got a bit of training but a 2 gas analyzer is a great tool get the co and HC to lowest reading and check your gas mileage, yes the idel circuit is flowing fuel at all speeds and set properly will alow a chev to do 20 MPG as long as it is 327 or less cubes, used to do a lot of this stuff after 3rd year auto and it was great fun of course i was young and working then!!!
Not only did I get of my own, I have the paperwork, and I still have the "high-school curriculum shop manual that explains what you are testing and looking at on the scope to understand what to do with the information. Yes, I did go to high school. I picked up a ford rotunda version of the suntune. maybe if Im not breaking any laws I can scan and post a page from it. I will have to check.
I have an old one from sears...still use it to set my points. Get a kick out of it everytime i use it. And all my friends are pissed cause I still run points which makes it even sweeter!
I want an old sun scope but I still use my stewart warner analyzer (scope still works) and I have a 70's sears small one.
I've a collection of them...... This is the oldest wood cased and the largest a 1941 Allen that cme with everything including all the paperwork. I basically brought them to save history before they all got tossed.
I shit canned the working upper part...it wasn't working. I had visions of building an authentic 60s era garage with all the period equipment. They were great for shops in the 60s when a car would be tested for bad plug wires and replace only the bad one. Mine took up too much wall space that I wanted for cabinets. If my hotrod starts to run poorly, I'm going to do a complete tune up. I didn't think that I'd ever use the scope but it was fun to play with for the short time that I had access to a working one in the 70s.
Well i thought I’d add to this thread eleven years later! Came across a Sun Engine Performance Tester model #ss-110. It’s got cylinder volt leakage, tach-dwell cylinder balance, scope, and cylinder power balance. So a couple of questions... 1. Online pics show another bank of gauges. Would you order what you wanted or in this instance is there something missing? 2. Low price but for the home hobbyist who doesn’t have a degree in rocket science or ten years experience at the Canada Space Centre would this be a worthwhile tool to have providing the user manual can be obtained? There are a few cables that come with it? Something useful and practical or more for shop ambience?
They are a novelty anymore. I grew up using them and it use to be one of the strongest tools to have if you were a serious engine tuner. Most were replaced by smaller units and handheld scopes. Occasionally I have a use for a 2-3 gas analyzer. I have not needed to analyze an ignition pattern in many many years. This is all professionally speaking. It would be fun to have one in working order....maybe one of the last big SUN machines. I would love to find a good working distributor tester.
They are great if you are willing to learn a bit. if you understand spark lines you can home in on problems pretty fast and with a good bit of confidence. If you have a working one, and aren’t going to use it… they have vector monitors in them. B&W arcade game repair persons will pay$$$
I picked one up at a shop auction for $40 a few years back, but didn't really have a use or home for it. Hoping this summer to find a home for it and use it to tune my Plymouth when I get my dual carbs set up. For y'all that used these to tune 'back in the day' What did you do to simulate load on the engine? Jack up the rear and let the tires spin? Only tube with no load?
Power braking was about the best you could do while hooked up unless you had a dyno. But a good unloaded snap throttle would also show problems. The nice thing about the last few Sun Machines where they were PC based and you could go back and watch a playback. The earlier ones, you would have to catch the problems in the firing line, or spark duration in real time.
We had a good Sun analyzer at one place I worked. Probably an SS400, it was huge and could do almost anything. I went to Sun school to learn how to really use it. The main user, he rigged up a simple coil so it would work on electronic ignitions, Sun saw it and gave us a better mouse trap for it.
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