Having just bought a Snap On digital advance timing light I think I'll just try it out on my '91 Gti, just to check that everythings set as it should (I'll firstly clean out the ISV, the idle screw & throttle flaps to make sure there's no black carbon deposits showing.) So firstly I'll need to warm the car up till the oils at 80 degrees, then pull off the crankcase breather hose & plug its end. Then I'll remove the plug off the blue sender & give it three bursts of throttle above 3,000rpm. Do I then adjust the timing, or do I need to set the base idle first? What about the CO level? - I can't set this without an exhaust analyser can I, so could I just set the idle & adjust the timing at home then take it to a garage to set the CO? Or does altering the idle alter the CO levels too? I'm thinking they depend on each other, so perhaps it's better to get the garage to set them all? (then what was the point of me getting a timing light? ). I could try to borrow a Gunsons Exhaust Gas analyser from a friend I suppose (are these any good? they're better than guessing I suppose!) The timing marks equate to 6 deg BTDC at 2,000 - 2500rpm so do I need to set the digital readout to 6 degrees, or do I just leave it at zero? To set the cars timing at 2,000rpm if I haven't got a helper/ third hand then can I just put a wedge of some sort in the throttle mechanism? Between holding the timing light, turning the dizzy & holding the throttle I can see it as been quite fiddly! The display of the timing light shows rpm too, so that is quite handy I'd like to have a go at setting or at least checking the timing since I've done most things on my car (brakes, suspension etc) & the only way to learn is to do it yourself , so any other advice and tips are welcome! Cheers Mike
you can set it at 0 and read at the 6 deg mark...or set to 6 and read from the tdc mark "i think " duno about the rest
