Please help me sleep tonight (Timing woes)

Setting the timing on my SIII 2.25 petrol is causing me grief – I’ve done it plenty of times in the past so I am reasonably sure I am doing it right but I can’t get the bloody thing to run nicely – perhaps the shock of buying a new Turners head for it has affected my brain.

Could some of you wise people tell me if I am doing this right.

Set TDC using marks on lower pulley.

Connect one wire of bulb test set to HT connection on coil, the other to an earth point.

Rotate dissy until the bulb lights up.

Start engine and rotate dissy for best/smoothest running.

Doing the above usually gets it going; perhaps I am going senile as I am struggling to even get it to fire now.

I can even find at least two different angles of rotation about the 360 where turning the dissy would make the test light come on.

There’s defiantly a spark on each plug and there is fuel getting to the carb.

Please tell me I am doing something very silly and prevent me having to go to bed tonight with the thoughts of why its not running in my head.

you've timed it 180° oot at a guess

no wonder yer feckin dibnh is in such a state of disrepair

ha ha ha, yer feckin waster

tru yella - but yu fell fur it!

I have some horse tranquilisers if yer want

So how would i ensure that i've not got it 180 degrees out ? - i've rotated the dissy what seems to be about 180 degrees ish but the vac advance outlet points towards the head and i'm buggered if that was were it pointed before.

ffs no, its the crank that is 180 out, not the dizzy

yella disco said:

ffs no, its the crank that is 180 out, not the dizzy

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So are you saying that i have to use the marks on the pulley to set TDC and THEN turn it another 180 degrees? - never had to do that before.

yu got a rave or a haynes?

I've just read that there is a locating thingy that drops into the dissy housing hole that can be fished out and turned 180 - I've never touched this but that might be a clue.

I've got the haynes book of confusing pictures and on page 60 it shows how the alignment should be, as soon as it stops peeing down i'll go check that it looks the same.

From what we done to sort Dafts timing if yer vacuum advance is pointing towards the block I'd say you want to turn it anti clockwise until it's pointing towards the bulkhead. With the injun at 6 degrees BTDC (it's only TDC fer low octane fuel) the rotor should then be pointing in the general direction of the contact in the dizzy for No:1 cylinder & the light should just have gone out.

S'probably all wrong, but it's what we did, then used Slobs dynamic (or whatever it's called) timing guide fer eejuts then some geezer called Robert is your Mothers Brother & it runs sweet as a not Dibnah.

Hope that's some help? It is Monday morning!

Usual disclaimer applies!

I'm just doning my scuba gear armed with this new info i'll check - where do i find this timing guide fer eejuts ?

Wheres the techy section gone from ere? - or arnt my eyes working yet?

dis is Slobs post from another fred.....

set yer dizzy at 6° BTDC. then wiff the injun running slowly turn dizzy anti-clockwise till its has slowed down. now turn clockwise till it just starts to speed up. losk th edizzy there and yer ign. is now timed to suit YOUR engine.
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seanmoore2006 said:

Wheres the techy section gone from ere? - or arnt my eyes working yet?

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Reckon people ran out of Dried Frog Pills last night. Prob' all cheered up agin now!

The Mad Hat Man said:

dis is Slobs post from another fred.....

set yer dizzy at 6° BTDC. then wiff the injun running slowly turn dizzy anti-clockwise till its has slowed down. now turn clockwise till it just starts to speed up. losk th edizzy there and yer ign. is now timed to suit YOUR engine.
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Bloody thing won't even start now - i've checked that the dissy/tdc mark is all sorta pointed in the right direction.

Turninng it over for a couple of seconds it seems get "stuck" with a bit of a lurch allmost as if it's trying to fire - when number 1 lead is pulled off the plug it turns over without getting "stuck" but does not show any signs of fireing on any of the other plugs.

The pub is open in 4 minutes.

have yu st it up with a light in the low tension circuit?

The Mad Hat Man said:

have yu st it up with a light in the low tension circuit?

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I've got a light in between the tag on the coil that the wire that goes to the dissy connects to and earth - engine at 6 degree BTDC - rotate dissy untill light just comes on.

i fink, sorry folks, memory agin and no haynes to check, is that the light just goes orf. The Haynes is WRONG!

I also remove the wire to the dizzy and fit the light between the coil and dizzy wire.

The Mad Hat Man said:

i fink, sorry folks, memory agin and no haynes to check, is that the light just goes orf. The Haynes is WRONG!

I also remove the wire to the dizzy and fit the light between the coil and dizzy wire.

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Wot he said...........Even if I get slated too!