Timing way off

[bagpype]

I brought my 1991 turbo Elan back from the dead. New fuel injectors, fuel filter, fresh fuel, new spark plugs. She starts right up and idles fine but it’s sluggish. Very sluggish. In idle and under load. It takes a good 4 or 5 seconds to rev above 4K rpm. I checked the timing using the procedure in the wiki and man is it off. It’s like -40 BTDC. The timing “v”on the crank pulley isn’t even getting close to the timing marks. I have adjusted the CAS as far as it will go but no luck. I am assuming someone replaced the timing belt and knocked the timing off by a few teeth. I am going to check that today. My question, is there anything else that I should be aware of on these cars that could cause this timing issue?

[lotustonybassplayer]

Do you definitely have the car in service mode ?

[bagpype]

Do you definitely have the car in service mode ?

Yes. I jumper the connector after the car is started and the check engine light starts flashing pretty fast.

[Tuga2112]

Do you definitely have the car in service mode ?

Yes. I jumper the connector after the car is started and the check engine light starts flashing pretty fast.

that sounds about right.

im paying attention to this thread because i have a similar situation with my NA but id like to see if anyone has any ideas that dont include re-adjusting the belt as well.

its a rather time consuming task.

[bagpype]

Do you definitely have the car in service mode ?

Yes. I jumper the connector after the car is started and the check engine light starts flashing pretty fast.

that sounds about right.

im paying attention to this thread because i have a similar situation with my NA but id like to see if anyone has any ideas that dont include re-adjusting the belt as well.

its a rather time consuming task.

From my experience. I have had several cars that were worked on by “professionals” that had timing off by two teeth and a distributor put back in 180 degrees off. This car has a new timing belt that I can see. I’m guessing the timing is off. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

[Tuga2112]

From my experience. I have had several cars that were worked on by “professionals” that had timing off by two teeth and a distributor put back in 180 degrees off. This car has a new timing belt that I can see. I’m guessing the timing is off. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

yes... to be a professional, all you need is to find 1 idiot that will pay you to do something.

theres a reason professionals only touch my car to do the MOT and nothing else.
funny story came to mind. a year ago my sister was giving me grief that my cars would have been all fixed if i wasnt a cheapskate... we stopped at national tyres and asked the professional to fix a punture in the tire... the guy couldnt put a 16 year old alfa 156 into reverse.... that moment my sister realised the true meaning of being a professional... i never had any grief about my choises around the garage since that moment

i trust the knowledge of folk in this forum more than any backstreet mechanic and many so called "speialists" as well

[Chas54]

Its not a new fangled strobe with a dial in the advance mode is it?
I was familliar with my ancient strobe with a fixed position but when i ran over it a number of years ago , my wife bought me an expensive one as a christmas present . This new one can be set to zero like my old one would have been but this one has a dial where you can set the advance and then compare it to your TDC marks . Its fooled me at least 3 times when its been set to some accidental figure. Generally when my grandsons borrowed it .

[Tuga2112]

mine is one of the cheap ones, no advance settings.