Ignition timing

[Farran]

Hi,

Tried to set the timing today on my S2 but failed.

Marked the notch in the timing pulley with white paint to make it easier to see with the strobe. Heated the engine up, and put it into diagnostic mod.
Connected up the timing light, but could not see the notch(timing mark) as I checked for it in the area of the scale. Eventually found the mark but 180 degrees out of position! Thought there must be a problem with the pulley not being in the correct relationship with the crankshaft so I checked it. Removed number 1 plug and turned the engine until the piston was at the top and the timing mark lined up! Then thought that maybe the firing order was mixed up, but every plug lead I connected the timing light to gave me the same timing position, 180 degrees out!

Has anyone come across this problem before?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem could be?

I did not connect the timing light to the battery in the car but connected it to a spare battery as the leads were too short, but I can't see how this could cause the problem.

Hope someone can help.

Farran

[Monty]

Are u pointing the timing gun in the correct position? ie at the timing marks on the plastic cover

It is possible that the cams wasn`t set correctly when having the belt fitted but wouldn`t of thought the car would even run

[Doug]

battery doesn't matter

if you verified that TDC on cylinder #1 does line up with timing mark at zero or just about then it is lined up right.

sounds like you have the gun clipped to spark plug lead #1 as you should then

check the gun you are using to be sure there is no weird setting to it!

strange

[rip]

You should get a spark every 180 degrees. Plugs 2&3 should be 180 degrees out of phase with 1 & 4.
How can all 4 plugs be firing in phase with each other? If this were true, your engine should be trying to run on 2 cylinders. You would be trying to fault find then, not trying to tune the timing.

Very strange.

[Farran]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. Have found the problem, the pick-uk for the timing light is too sensitive and it is picking up the pulses from the other plug leads and for some reason cylinders 2 and 3 were the strongest , which is why I was getting the timing at 180 degrees out.

Separated the leads as far as possible and guess what, timing is now showing in the correct area.

Farran

[Enright]

Where were you clipping your pick-up onto the lead?
Normally I remove the spark plug cover (as much because I have a short pick-up lead as anything) - it's only 6 allen bolts anyway, and because no1 lead is the longest there are no others around to cause interference anyway.