still no luck with timing.

[adam459]

hi folks, i'm still having problems with the timing. i've bought all new plugs and made sure all my wires are in the right place and made sure that my tdc is correct (cheers peter), the problem i'm having is that my car will start fine at 50* btdc whilst i'm holding the timing light on i turn it to 10* btdc and i seem to loose my spark cos the timing light flashes irregular, or sometimes not at all. i was wondering if it is possible to put the dizzy in incorrectly because the car has never run properly since i bought it, and i was wondering if the previous person could of done something, and not done it right. cheers for your help. adam.

[that daddy]

you have got timing mark issues the engine would not crank or fire at 50 degrees btdc.have you checked you have the timing light on no1 cylinder it does not sound like it,keep posting.

[adam459]

definatly on no1.

[andy-w]

where abouts are you...i can bring mine up tonight and you can compare setup if thats any good?

[shpub]

Have you checked for a revolving set of timing marks?

[adam459]

what are they?.

[andy-w]

Adam,

I have sent you a mail back but our email is playing up at work so i am not sure if it will take hours to get to you.

IIRC I am also sure that i read in the bible that the timing wheel marks can be in the wrong place???

[GreenV8S]

adam459 said:

what are they?.

The timing marks on the front pulley are not reliable. The outer part of the pulley is only connected to the crank via a layer of rubber and some glue, if the joint fails then the pulley may be shifting relative to the crank. You could confirm this is happening by drawing a line across the whole pulley and confirm that the inner and outer are remaining in the same position relative to each other.

Swinging the whole dizzy should move the spark time and have no other effect. I wonder if the vac advance is hooked up properly. If the baseplate isn't connected to the vac advance then it will be free to rotate randomly when the engine is running, giving you unpredictable ignition timing, possible giving you a spark when the rotor arm isn't aligned with the dizzy cap electrodes, basically a world of pain. I suggest you tke the vac advance off carefully, see if it was hooked up properly, and make sure it is hooked up properly when you refit it.

Mental note, make sure the vac line is NOT connected to the dizzy until the problem is resolved - blank off the port on the throttle body.

[adam459]

i've took out all of my plugs, put a straw in no1 piston and turned it over by hand and when the piston is at the very top of it's stroke the tdc mark is in perfect line with the finger marker. i've took my dizzy off and it has a yellow paint mark on it as if it is second hand from a scrapyard, could this have something to do with it?