With the current gas prices, I figured it would be a good investment to buy a strobe light and sort out my ignition.
I read through all of the posts regarding timing and thought I had it figured out: hook the strobe light to number 1, shine it on the flywheel inspection hole and check the timing using the "dimple".
Reality is not always so kind. First of all, how do you get the strobe light and your head in a way that you can actually see anything? Is there a neat trick?
Second, I looked in vain for a dimple, and there was none to be seen. So I got the car into 5th gear and pushed it until I found a groove in the flywheel. My car is a late 1987 model. Lined up the groove with the 0º, checked the crankshaft pulley, and there was also a mark, perfectly lined up. Camshaft pulley mark was also lining up, so all OK.
Hooked the strobe to number 1 again, and no luck finding the timing mark. Switched to number 4, and there it was! Am I correct in assuming that number 4 is closest to the flywheel? I read loads of comments about something being checked with number 1, and something else with number 4. But 1 and 4 move up and down together, so it shouldn't make any difference which one you choose, or????
Anyway, my preliminary findings indicate that ignition is taking place some 15º BTDC. The idle was too fast, but that's not important right now. Since I'm using 95 RON unleaded, I don't expect to use the 5º BTDC that is specified. The question now is, how far can I go? 8º? 10º?
I read through all of the posts regarding timing and thought I had it figured out: hook the strobe light to number 1, shine it on the flywheel inspection hole and check the timing using the "dimple".
Reality is not always so kind. First of all, how do you get the strobe light and your head in a way that you can actually see anything? Is there a neat trick?
Second, I looked in vain for a dimple, and there was none to be seen. So I got the car into 5th gear and pushed it until I found a groove in the flywheel. My car is a late 1987 model. Lined up the groove with the 0º, checked the crankshaft pulley, and there was also a mark, perfectly lined up. Camshaft pulley mark was also lining up, so all OK.
Hooked the strobe to number 1 again, and no luck finding the timing mark. Switched to number 4, and there it was! Am I correct in assuming that number 4 is closest to the flywheel? I read loads of comments about something being checked with number 1, and something else with number 4. But 1 and 4 move up and down together, so it shouldn't make any difference which one you choose, or????
Anyway, my preliminary findings indicate that ignition is taking place some 15º BTDC. The idle was too fast, but that's not important right now. Since I'm using 95 RON unleaded, I don't expect to use the 5º BTDC that is specified. The question now is, how far can I go? 8º? 10º?
