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Oct 11, 2015 9:53 am
Oct 11, 2015 9:53 am
Subject: Re: Effect of the Advance & Retard Lever
Hi Richard
Could be over fuelling but as regards the ignition:
With manual advance and retard you MUST always start fully retarded to prevent the risk of the engine "kicking back" and damaging the starter motor or housing.
Note If the engine does fire back with the starter engaged it is not uncommon for the starter shaft to get bent, or the bendix be damaged or even worst case, I have known the starter to get broken right out of the housing!
If the ignition timing is set correctly, you should be able to make the engine run unevenly in the retarded position and pink in the advanced position, with the correct setting being somewhere in between.
Proceed as follows: Having started the engine retarded, you should then advance the ignition up until the engine runs smoothly ( you will hear the revs pick up) and then when you drive off, once underway, continue to advance the ignition until the engine just starts to "pink" or "knock" and then retard the ignition back until the pinking just disappears, the ignition will then be in it's optimum setting for smooth running and maximum power.
You may need to retard the ignition slightly when climbing a hill and then advance up again when on the level.
When you have driven the car a few times you should get to know roughly where the correct position is on the quadrant.
When driving a manual advance car a lot of folk generally set it to fully retarded as they leave the car to avoid accidental start up in the advanced position, I believe that is good practice.
Note: If the points gap is incorrect this will effect the timing as well as cause poor running.
A final comment, you say the car is kept on a farm, magnetos do not like being left in unheated or damp conditions condensation inside the mag or distributor cap will cause havoc!
Hope that helps
Bill
Hi Richard
Could be over fuelling but as regards the ignition:
With manual advance and retard you MUST always start fully retarded to prevent the risk of the engine "kicking back" and damaging the starter motor or housing.
Note If the engine does fire back with the starter engaged it is not uncommon for the starter shaft to get bent, or the bendix be damaged or even worst case, I have known the starter to get broken right out of the housing!
If the ignition timing is set correctly, you should be able to make the engine run unevenly in the retarded position and pink in the advanced position, with the correct setting being somewhere in between.
Proceed as follows: Having started the engine retarded, you should then advance the ignition up until the engine runs smoothly ( you will hear the revs pick up) and then when you drive off, once underway, continue to advance the ignition until the engine just starts to "pink" or "knock" and then retard the ignition back until the pinking just disappears, the ignition will then be in it's optimum setting for smooth running and maximum power.
You may need to retard the ignition slightly when climbing a hill and then advance up again when on the level.
When you have driven the car a few times you should get to know roughly where the correct position is on the quadrant.
When driving a manual advance car a lot of folk generally set it to fully retarded as they leave the car to avoid accidental start up in the advanced position, I believe that is good practice.
Note: If the points gap is incorrect this will effect the timing as well as cause poor running.
A final comment, you say the car is kept on a farm, magnetos do not like being left in unheated or damp conditions condensation inside the mag or distributor cap will cause havoc!
Hope that helps
Bill