IGNITION TIMING

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Ignition Timing ; A How to Guide by Pete Wallace

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On the 850 Reliant engine if the timing is set to Top Dead Centre the top speed will not be much more than 60 mph .

The engines need to be set to around 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre as a starting point .

Since each engine is different you might find that one engine runs better around 13 to 14 degrees Before Top Dead Centre where another might be better around 8 degrees Before Top Dead Centre .

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NOTE { A }

Working from the DRIVERS SIDE of the ENGINE BAY ,

Use a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and PULL UPWARDS .

Looking at the engine from the front of the car this moves the engine in a CLOCKWISE direction

and is the normal FORWARDS rotation .

PULL UPWARDS / DRIVERS SIDE / CLOCKWISE / FORWARDS .

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NOTE { B }

Working from the DRIVERS SIDE of the ENGINE BAY ,

Use a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and PUSH DOWNWARDS .

Looking at the engine from the front of the car this moves the engine in an ANTI CLOCKWISE direction

and is the BACKWARDS rotation .

PUSH DOWNWARDS / DRIVERS SIDE / ANTI CLOCKWISE / BACKWARDS .

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STEP 1 ; CLEAN AND GAP SPARK PLUGS

Remove spark plugs and clean and re-gap to 25 thou and refit .

{ Although you will find it easier to turn the engine by hand if you leave the plugs out till after you have done the timing }

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STEP 2 ; SET THE POINTS GAP

With the IGNITION OFF .

{ 1 } Remove distributor cap .

{ 2 } Working from the DRIVERS SIDE of the ENGINE BAY turn the engine using a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and PULL UPWARDS till the rotor arm is pointing towards number 1 cylinder { the one at the front of the car }.

{ 3 } Remove rotor arm .

{ 4 } Gently turn engine with spanner till the cam that the rotor arm sits on is at its highest point and check/reset the points gap to 15 thou .

{ 5 } DISTRIBUTOR ; CAM POSITION FOR POINTS OPEN

and

{ Gap 15 thou {0.38mm } must be checked at highest point of distributor cam .

Remove the rotor arm so that you can see when the cam is at its highest point .

If you set the points gap at any place other that at the HIGHEST point on the cam then the gap will be increased when it gets to the highest point .

I usually check that a 12 thou { about 0.30mm } feeler is too slack and an 18 thou { about 0.45 mm } feeler is too tight then the 15 thou feeler { about 0.38 mm } will be around about OK .

The gap is easy to get wrong because people either force the feeler gauge in or , if the gap is too slack , put the feeler gauge in at a very slight angle causing the gauge to touch the top of one side of the points and touch the bottom on the other side .

They then think this is an nice grip fit when in reality it is too slack .

A wee tip is not to grip the flat of the feeler gauge when checking the gap but to grip the edge only .

This generally means you have less chance of doing a lever job on the points . }

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STEP 3 ; TIMING BULB or MULTIMETER

With the IGNITION OFF .

Get a bulb with two wires and Crocodile clips

If you do not have a light why not make your own as per ;

https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintsandtips/ignition-timing-lamp-inspection-lamp

Check that the bulb lights by touching one wire to the battery {+} and the other to the battery{ -} terminals .

Or use a multimeter and check as above

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STEP 4 ; TIMING

With the IGNITION OFF .

{ 1 }

Refit rotor arm .

{ 2 }

Using a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley , PUSH DOWNWARDS .

Keep turning the engine backwards in an anti clockwise direction till both timing marks on the inside of the fanbelt pulley have passed the raised mark on the timing cover by about half an inch.

In this position the points will be CLOSED .

{ 3 }

Gently with your thumb and forefinger turn the rotor arm in a clockwise direction { looking at it from the top of the distributor } and you might feel a tiny bit of movement

{It is important to do this as the bulb will light at the wrong point if you do not }

{ 4 }

Connect one wire from the bulb / multimeter to the battery earth and the other wire to the { - } terminal on the coil .

{ 5 }

SWITCH the IGNITION ON { not the starter !!! }

The bulb should NOT be lit and the multimeter should be reading ZERO because the points are closed .

{ 6 }

Turn the engine VERY SLOWLY using a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and PULL UPWARDS .

There is one triangle bump cast on the alloy timing cover and there are two marks on the pulley .

The first mark on the pulley as it is rotated in a UPWARDS in a clockwise direction is the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre mark and the second mark is Top Dead Centre .

Keep it coming up VERY SLOWLY and note the point that the bulb lights / meter registers.

Any place between the two marks and the engine will run , though it is better when the first line lines up which is 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre .

The second mark is Top Dead Centre .

{ 7 }

If you need to reset the point at which the light comes on then you have to once again turn the engine back in an anti clockwise direction using a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and PUSH DOWNWARDS .

Keep turning the engine backwards in an anti clockwise direction till both timing marks have passed the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre mark on the timing cover by about half an inch.

With the bulb or multimeter connected as per above keep the IGNITION ON.

Gently with your thumb and forefinger turn the rotor arm in a clockwise direction { looking at it from the top of the distributor } and you might feel a tiny bit of movement

{It is important to do this as the bulb will light at the wrong point if you do not }

{ 8 }

Now once again turn the engine VERY SLOWLY forwards in an anti clockwise direction using a 9/16 AF spanner on the bolt in the centre of the fanbelt engine pulley and LIFT UPWARDS till the FIRST mark lines up with the mark on the timing cover .

The engine is now in the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre position .

Whether the bulb lights before the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre mark or does not come on when the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre marks are lined up does not matter as you will then do the following .

{ 9 }

With the ignition SWITCHED ON and with the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre timing marks lined up you have to gently slacken the distributor clamp bolt { this is the bolt you can see when looking down at the right hand side of the distributor } .

You will notice that the clamp bracket is slotted .

Turn the whole distributor body with your hand in an anti clockwise direction { looking at it from the top } until it butts against the end of the slot .

Once again , Gently with your thumb and forefinger turn the rotor arm in a clockwise direction { looking at it from the top of the distributor } and you might feel a tiny bit of movement

{It is important to do this as the bulb will light at the wrong point if you do not }

Now GENTLY and slowly tap the side of the distributor vacuum assembly { The flying saucer } with a spanner so that it goes in a clockwise direction till the bulb just lights .

Gently tighten clamp bolt { it is easy to strip thread if too much pressure is exerted }

Sometimes tightening the clamp bolt alters the timing so REDO IF NECESSARY procedures { 7 } , { 8 } and { 9 } to get the bulb lighting at the correct point .

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Note that though your engine will run Ok at 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre the 10 degrees is an average good starting point for the timing and your engine might run even better at 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 degrees or 7 , 8 . 9 degrees .

If it is pinking under load at 10 degrees I would reset the timing to come on about ¼ of the way after the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre mark { about 7 degrees } and try that .

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The following should only be attempted by competent people ;

Note the Disclaimer

Disclaimer:/ SMALL PRINT !!!!!

I take no responsibility for loss , damage or injury of any kind caused by use of tips or advice from this web site or any other sites from the links I have given !!! ....

Such details and links are put there to provide a possible guide or solution to a problem .

It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that any details and links given are safe and practical .

Do not try and copy anything you see on the links if you do not feel competent enough to decide if the advice given is good , bad or otherwise .

If you at all unsure about your own capabilities then please seek expert opinion before following any advice , tips or links .

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From my own experience working on 850 Reliants if the timing is set at TDC you will not get much over 60 mph top speed .

With points distributors this gets progessively worse as the heel of the points wears and the gap closes retarding the ignition .

The timing ends up as being ATDC .

Forget about setting a standard 850cc engine with a strobe .

Set the static timing to 10 degrees BTDC using only a bulb or a meter.

Get the engine warmed up to working temperature and ticking over nicely then switch it off .

Scribe a line alongside the distributor clamp plate .

Slacken the distributor only enough to enable you to be able to rotate it .

For safety attempting the following I remove the driver side engine panel in the footwell on the later Robin / Rialto models and adjust the distributor from the footwell access .

Start the engine up and , wearing a pair of thick rubber gloves and keeping your hands away from the fan blade and HT leads , rotate the distributor very slowly until you achieve the fastest tickover .

Switch off and tighten the distributor clamp .

Restart and adjust the tickover back to normal .

Run it on the road up a hill and see how it goes .

If it pinks retard the distributor by a small bit in an anti clockwise direction and try it out again .

The optimum for the engine is just set 1 or 2 degrees before it wants to pink .

I have 3 Reliants and one is best at about 9 degrees , the other 11 degrees and the last one about 12 degrees BTDC .

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Thanks to str8lolly from the RELIANT WORLD FORUM for the base timing marks pic { which I scrawled on } and special thanks to the crocodiles