If you're @ the Clouseau Crimble Dinner tomoz James I'll talk you thru strobes!

,

static timing = 8* BTDC there is no TDC mark on our engines unless youve taken the time to mark one ( and you cant do it by feeling the piston going over TDC)

as for clockwise and counter clockwise , the crank from the front or the rear and the direction of the points box - i knew it'd go that way thats why i said about pulling the flywheel from under the starter and disappearing down the bell housing for us "Visual Thinking" dyslexics.

and unless ken has enough rope for me too ....for the last time, you dont use the strobe to test the static point! the advantage of the strobe is that you dial out any errors in the advance and have the engine set for optimum where it does most of its hard work.

ahem, I've got no clou of ignition but..........

ofcours theres a mark at 8 degrees*, how about a hole in the flywheel and a hole at the right enginemount. You can put a 6 mm drill in it or the special Citroen "origami" tool, and your engine is fixated at 8 degrees btdc. Now take some whit paint make a mark on your flyweel and engine cassing and you've got a mark.............

Now let the engine iddle and hold the strobe on it. The marks have to line up at idle and "creating a gap" when reving the engine.....
You got to know your strobe, a modern one can fool you (adjustable advance on strobe) then it looks as if your timing isn't right......


*ok. Citroen is a little bit clumsy about drilling the hole in the flywheel but theoreticly it is 8 degrees btdc

Nope, your spot on with all that well done the 8* mark is the known point . the "datum"



AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!
no the 8* is static ie the engine not moving - often its the same at idle but sometimes its not - the most important bit is getting the ignition correct at full power so that you eliminate any chance of Knock/Pinging/pinking and so the engine is producing the most power that's usually 32-34*

to do that you either need a fancy strobe or a second mark on the flywheel- the 7th tooth

It has to be (around) 8 degrees at idle advance starting around 1000 rpm..... this is what Citroen intended? to do.

For me it is simple, put the drill in, mount a light (usualy I take the wire of the left blinker/clignoteur light in the fender) turn the box till it just starts to shine. Take a drive, when it knocks bend the 2 stops
of the counterweights in (giving less advance) the knocking stops, or when it doesn't knock bend them out a little (giving more advance) and your done...


(ofcours now I have my own electronic ignition system so I don't do this stuff anymore )

ah so you adjust max advance by bending the stops on the carrier

dont you actually want to see what the engine is doing at any given rev range .....or you do that with a laptop

Correct


Now I can datalog; see; adjust; etc. every fart (more then 50 parameters) the engine makes by laptop...

But I managed it for more then 20 years like I described above.......

Done this today - finally. Set to 7 teeth advance (32*). It's still pinking, probably worse than before. I have 8.5: 1 pistons ... presumably I should be looking at advancing it even more? Problem is I'm not sure I've got that much movement left in the points box!

When it pinks you must retard timing not advancing it......

to retard ignition 2 choices,
- turn the ignition box anticlockwise
- or when your timing is correct at iddle, bend the counterweight stops inwards (to the axle)


n.b. pinking means that your spark is comming to early, meaning the explosion in the cilinders happens when the piston is still moving up, so the power from the explosion is working against the piston, when the explosion is comming later (retarding ignition) the power of the explosion is helping the the piston down giving power to the engine........

No,
first check the heat range of your plugs and rejet the carburettor if that hasn't already been done.

Also, is there any indication that a spark plug thread has been repaired? If the insert was too long, or a helicoil type hasn't been done correctly, any part projecting into the combustion chamber can act as a 'hot spot' and cause pre-ignition.
Does the engine 'run on' after the ignition is switched off?

ken

p.s. 'Burn', not 'explosion'...