Timing by ear....

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Marmaduke

Marmaduke

Well-Known Member
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Near the land of 'Me Duck'
Come on then, what am I listening for???
I've set it with a timing light to 6 degrees and it's burping and farting especially on the over run. If I go past 6 degrees the engine speed increases but I don't know if this will cause issues... So please can someone tell me what I'm listening for?
Also vacuum pipe on or off?

Cheers Rob
 
I wouldn't worry about degrees. I always time by ear, fastish revs as if the choke is out and vac pipe on. Turn the dizzy either way until the engine speed is at its highest then cut revs to tick over. A little adjustment maybe on tick over until it's idling nice and smoothly. Make sure the mixture screw, throttle stop and valves are adjust correctly. Don't forget to do the dizzie clamp up again, I forgot to that once.

Col
 
Can you tune a...
5FFD4592-E8A9-489B-961B-1ADE527C8CB8.jpeg
 
Colthebrummie said:
I wouldn't worry about degrees. I always time by ear, fastish revs as if the choke is out and vac pipe on. Turn the dizzy either way until the engine speed is at its highest then cut revs to tick over. A little adjustment maybe on tick over until it's idling nice and smoothly. Make sure the mixture screw, throttle stop and valves are adjust correctly. Don't forget to do the dizzie clamp up again, I forgot to that once.

Col
Click to expand...
So it doesn't matter if the timing is way above 6 degrees?
 
I would imagine the 6 degrees was for the days of leaded fuel, so that will be quite a long way out anyway.:rolleyes:
We are also assuming the dwell angle, i.e. points gap is correct, unless you've changed it to electronic.
I'd do it the same way as Col only I'd push the revs higher, which would annoy the neighbours, which is why I always take it to a layby on a country lane I know. At higher revs, you can be sure that all the advance is in and each change to the position of the dizzy has a more noticeable effect on the revs.
Don't be surprised if at tick-over the advance is well different. This is caused by different fuel and the wear in all moving parts of the engine and ignition system.
Oh, and don't forget to make sure the engine is at normal temperature
Once you get the timing right, you may well have to alter the tick-over at the carb Especially to make sure it starts from cold.
All the best wiv it!
I miss doing this, what with modern cars!:):):)
 
Hicap phill said:
I was way out with electronic ignition. But more than 6 deg.
Click to expand...
When unleaded came out Wifey had a Citroen BX 1600. It was supposed to be able to run on both so we put unleaded in and retarded the ignition as we were all told to. But it didn't run too well and as the spark plug gap opened up, it started to backfire until it got so bad it actually exploded the first silencer, with an enormous bang.
So me and my neighbour, who ran a garage, dug deeper into how far back to retard it, and the truth was that it was much more than we were told by Citroen or anyone else.
Stopped the backfires!
Expensive way to learn the lesson.
@Marmaduke Don't know what engine you have but this may be of interest
https://www.lrukforums.com/threads/ignition-timing-settings-for-unleaded-2-25-petrol.106480/
 
Stanleysteamer said:
When unleaded came out Wifey had a Citroen BX 1600. It was supposed to be able to run on both so we put unleaded in and retarded the ignition as we were all told to. But it didn't run too well and as the spark plug gap opened up, it started to backfire until it got so bad it actually exploded the first silencer, with an enormous bang.
So me and my neighbour, who ran a garage, dug deeper into how far back to retard it, and the truth was that it was much more than we were told by Citroen or anyone else.
Stopped the backfires!
Expensive way to learn the lesson.
@Marmaduke Don't know what engine you have but this may be of interest
https://www.lrukforums.com/threads/ignition-timing-settings-for-unleaded-2-25-petrol.106480/
Click to expand...
Thanks but it's as clear as mud I'm afraid:oops:
I'm running an Accuspark distributor and new coil with a weber carb and lead substitute fuel.
I think my next day off I'm going to have to have a good day of tinkering with it as I guess the carb setup and timing all need attention
 
Remember that that 6 degrees figure is also the static time - as you said you're checking it with a strobe I assume you're checking the timing at idle which will mean the advance should be greater than 6. By how much will depend on what idle speed you're at and, as the others above have implied, what advance you like. I tried to get a consensus in an earlier thread about what timing people were running before I started fiddling again but there's little agreement I think as it's so variable depending on what your motor's like.
Best advice is as above really - get it up to a decent rate of revs then twist the dizzy til the revs peak, then back off a couple of degrees and that should be you about right. Then adjust your idle speed and carb again if need be to get a decent running at idle. Go for a decent run in it and put the engine under some strain (ie up a hill) and listen out for any pinking. If you hear some back off the dizzy a couple more degrees and repeat til the sound goes away and you should be fine.
 
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