Adjusting ignition timing

[skull1441]

wat happens when i loosen the 2 nuts ( one of them shown in the picture) and move the dizzy clock and counter clock wise ??

[TheMagi]

on FI cars, counter-clockwise advances the timing, clockwise retards it.

[shepherd79]

same on carbed motors.

[skull1441]

ok.... this is what im getting to.... i turned it all the way counter clockwise and gave me a lil extra juice but my coil started making a pssssss noise ( accel coil ) so i put it all the way to clock wise and it seem normal ...... is that pssss sound normal oooor does it mean its frying up?????

[k-roy]

I got an Accel Coil and I have never heard a sound from it. And yes I have fucked with my timing all sorts of ways.

[smufguy]

ok.... this is what im getting to.... i turned it all the way counter clockwise and gave me a lil extra juice but my coil started making a pssssss noise ( accel coil ) so i put it all the way to clock wise and it seem normal ...... is that pssss sound normal oooor does it mean its frying up?????

well, if u have too much ignition advance and run lean, esp u have no choice with your carb but to run lean, you will detonate. I detonated with 40psi and full ignition adv. So yeah, not good. im running 43 psi now, and im gonna get it back to where it was. Worse enough detonation to find small aluminum deposits on my spark plug tip. So run stock ignition timing or just stay below 5 degrees.

[skull1441]

how do u know ur engine detonate??? !!!!!???

[smufguy]

how do u know ur engine detonate??? !!!!!???

like i said in my above reply, pull the plug and look for small aluminum droppings kinda on the electrode tip. Also another good sign of too much ignition advance is abnormal cylinder head temp.

I ran a compression test on my engine too. pretty weird numbers

Cyl 1 - 165 psi
Cyl 2 - 195 psi
Cyl 3 - 185 psi
Cyl 4 - 185 psi

The cylinder that detonated was Cyl 3. Pretty interesting deal. I gotta set my ignition timing back, its still a little advanced. god damn, i need a timing light, or just eyeball it.

[skull1441]

what is a normal psi ? .... i gotta check mine

[smufguy]

what is a normal psi ? .... i gotta check mine

Compression Test (300rpm and WOT)

Normal: 171psi
Minimum: 142psi
Maximum Variation: 28 Psi

[mr eff]

offtopic, but i'm curious how you have your car running with wide open throttle and keep it at 300rpm. is there something you have to set in order to test that?

i am a car newbie though, so if like you do this sort of stuff with the engine on some sort of machine, my mistake!

edit: drop it in neutral and lower the idle as far as possible? (just so you know i'm trying to think of the answer to my own question!)

[smufguy]

offtopic, but i'm curious how you have your car running with wide open throttle and keep it at 300rpm. is there something you have to set in order to test that?

i am a car newbie though, so if like you do this sort of stuff with the engine on some sort of machine, my mistake!

edit: drop it in neutral and lower the idle as far as possible? (just so you know i'm trying to think of the answer to my own question!)

You disconnect the injector resistor box, pull all the ignition wires and spark plugs. Inspect the plugs to see how the combustion occurs. Too black (too rich) medium to dark browinsh (near stoich). yellowish to golden (too lean).

Have the car running, rev it up to 4 or 5K and just cut the car off while at that rpm and do the above.

then after u have done the first things i mentioned, plug in the compression tester and try to start the car with the gas pedal floored. the rpms dont go any more than 500rpm, cause u got no spark and no fuel so its just the compression of the air in the cylinder and nothing else.

When i did mine, i did not floor it, i had it about 3/4 open. so i dont know.

[skull1441]

cause u got no spark and no fuel so its just the compression of the air in the cylinder and nothing else.

how do u cut off the gas if i got a carb ????

[smufguy]

how do u cut off the gas if i got a carb ????

simplest way, pull the fuel pump relay out from ur dash fuse box, if not another way is to go to the rear of the car and open the service hole behind the rear seat on the floor pan under the carpet. then unplug the connector on the pump itself.

So yeah, any of those methods work.