I hope there are a few who toss in some info here...I have a Crane XRi ignition coming and plan to put it in asap and see what gives. Gashog has suggested check/lubing the vac advance while the install is taking place.
"I do not comprehend the advance mechanism outside of theory"

1. How to check if it's working properly (diaphram-linkages).
2. How to reguarly maintenance it.
3. How to adjust it to work best for the trucks general useage.
4. Is the standard advance setup adjustable or does this require and aftermarket item like Crane Cams Advance Kit etc...

any help is greatly appreciated..TIA Redmanbob

 

First off (don't get mad at me), I'm a Crane ignition product person but I wouldn't run a xr-i if it were me side by side I would pick it over a Pertronix 100 to 1 if that was the only choice. It eliminates points thats about all.

XR-I: rev limit 4-8k rpm's
primary volts 400 inductive
primary energy output 45 millijoules w/ PS20 coil, must use ballast.
peak spark gap 50 milliamps
spark duration 2100 microseconds.

XR-700: primary volts 400 inductive
primary energy output 60 millijoules w/ PS 20/40, must use ballast.
peak spark gap 60 milliamps
spark duration 300 microseconds @ 6000 (this I have to question)


XR-3000: primary voltage output 400 volts inductive
primary energy output 90 millijoules w/ PS 91 coil
peak spark gap 100 milliamps w/ PS 91 coil
spark duration 2800 microseconds @ 2000
not ballast resistor.

As you can see twice the peak spark gap energy on a XR-3000 vs XR-I.
THe street/race units are 380 to 500 milliamp output, way to much for a regular street motor unless it's a built to kill motor.

Back to the dizzy, remove the vacuum advance canister (2 screws) and small E clip (careful easy to pop off, fly and loose) rotor and points plate (2 screws), under the rotor is a felt oil pad, remove and save. In the hole is a wire snap ring with two ends pointing up, you have to spread then pull up to remove, a PITA.
STOP and look for two spring ends hooked on metal arms pointing up, unkook the springs first. Before you lift the cam out note which advance stop slot your in, it will have ( I think) 11, 13 or 15 stamp number. Lift out and you'll see two centrifugal weights, check the slot in each weight as well the pins under the cam for wear contact areas. If bad blend and polish then clean in thinner or solvent. I like to use high temp silicone grease on all pivot and contact points, reassemble. Check the vacuum canister for rupture by adding a vacuum hose with a hand vacuum pump or suck hard and plug the hose with the tip of your tongue and wait for any leakdown to check the diaphragm, make sure it's clean first. Reassemble canister with E clip. With this done the advance will operate smooth up and down the rpm's and a vacuum advance unit that is known good. Add the XR-3000, oops the ignition of your choice. I would time between 9 and 12 degrees advance then work from there. If it's a new vacuum canister it take a allen to adjust, I run the old style with cap, spacer and washers to tune. Plugs and wires in good condition? Hope this gets you started.
.....=o&o>.....

 

Thanks for the details Beemer. This is going in a truck that will be towing a boat and carrying a camper. I'm not in that big a hurry to get to the lake I just like the idea of not having to stay all over the points. I'll hope to get to this over the weekend..will keep folks posted..TA, Redman

P.S. Anyone with more to add please do.....

 

hmmmmm....new information. Great explanation Beemer. When I called Crane to find out what to get the guy told me why would you run anything but the XR-i as it was new technology and the other stuff was on the way out. Go figure. I bought the XR-i but had trouble getting it to work so I put my points back in (I'm kinda old school and I can troubleshoot that...lol). At any rate, seems like the peak spark gap and duration numbers speak for themself. If I ever get my engine smoking problem resolved I believe I'll go for the XR-3000.

Tracy

 

Hey Robert, my 2cents says your wasting your money...I don't think you will gain enough in your stock 352...it will run fine on a stock dist...points are good for at least 10,000 miles..so you won't be dealing with them very often...I'm old school too...

 

i did realize the xr-3000 was 3 times as good but also had a 3x price tag. i have been more than happy with the XR-I kit. I do have a dyno result the day i installed it. before and after. its not a huge margin at all. but the cold starts are great and the fuel economy maybe picked up 1 mpg. overall i gained 4 hp 5 ft pound of torque

 

The points have 250 miles on them and already show signs of surface degredation..I already recieved it so I'll just go with it..I did this on my garden tiller and even though I have to wrap a rope around the old girl's perm she starts and runs like a million bucks everytime now

 

go try and install it. PM me if you need help. you will need a small allen wrench and a flat and phillips screwdriver.

 

I still have a Allison (optical trigger) system, they were purchased by Crane and later called the XR-700. It's 18 plus years old with zero problems and running in another FE, it has over 400K miles use. It started the FE at 11,000 feet and 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. I stepped up to a XR-3000 to get away from the resistor wire and higher peak spark gap current. Besides adjusting points all the time the one thing everyones missing or hasn't mentioned is your plugs last like 10 times longer than with a points system.
If you see on the above post the spark duration is at 6,000 rpm's for the XR-700 but at 2,000 rpm's for the XR-I and XR-3000. Why do they do this to us Crane? Keep everything the same when you compare.
As far as the XR-3000 "costing 3 times more than a XR-I", I can get a XR-I for $65, a XR-3000 for $136 at a local speed shop without coil for both. The XR-3000 costs 2.092 times more or $71. I can spent the difference on a dinner with wine and end up later with POO vs a XR-3000 running in the truck. No ballast resistor or resistor wire and a higher spark gap output 2 times higher energy than a XR-I. "Sorry about that chief".
.....=o&o>.....

 

thats a good price for the 3000 system. last i checked summit it was 209.95

 

ford390gashog, I just checked with Summit on the net, XR-3000 for $125.99 same at Jeg"s. LX 91 E-coil $49.88 at Summit and $49.99 at Jeg's.
XR-I at Jeg's for $64.88. All the above without shipping, as you see these prices are less than the $136 for the XR-3000 and $65 for a XR-I at Vic Hubbards in Hayward Ca. (510) 786-3550.
A small price to pay for a solid ignition system unless you want to sink money into a MSD system to impress what you got. I had 3 MSD failures before moving on, and yes they were hooked up properly with the right coils.
.....=o&o>.....

 

To have points show wear that fast I would suspect the resistance wire was not in the circuit and you had a full 12 or better volts to the coil.

 

With points years ago the motor ran clean the first 2K miles, by 3 to 3.5K miles they needed dressing as well the plugs to have a clean running motor again.
With the Allison and now XR 3000 I don't have to look at the dizzy unless for a mechanical lube and I'll forget about plugs for two years or longer, just harder to break 'em loose.
.....=o&o>.....

 

must have been a while since i looked at the 3000 kit. it really came down in price.

 

Bear the canister is there but it looks to be from thE WW1 erra. I'll grab a new one today and try to put this thing together Sat morning.. I promised the boat deck I'd spend time with it this weekend, so this needs to come off real smooth. Otherwise taking this boat out for an open water run when finished is going to be a real test of faith LOL