ignition timing

[pianoman]

ok its a 90 tsi awd, with 3inch turbo back, uipc, intake pipe k&n, boost gauge, and free mods. now i check my ig. timing the other day just for the hell of it, and it was 15 degrees BTDC at idle. this seems high to me for being an almost stock car. also the dsm seems to be one of the better running, also quickest(for the mods done) of the 3 that i've had. i havn't had a chance to run my logger on this car yet, but is there going to be negitive affects from this? also the car runs 15psi, with no boost controller. but i think thats from the 3inch dp and the free mods?? what should i change the ignition timing too. or does it need to be changed????

thanks.

 

[kpt4321]

Do you mean it was 15 psi with the car set up for proper ignition timing adjustment (pin grounded, logger unplugged, with a timing light)?

You need to be more specific. If it was 15 degrees with the car running normally, that's pretty normal, maybe a tiny bit high.

 

[pianoman]

yeah when i checked the ignition timing the other day, with a timing light, it said 15 degrees BTDC. although this is at idle. as far as wide open throttle, i have no idea yet. but is there any relation between ignition timing at idle and when its at wide open throttle?

 

[gsx91boy]

You need to be more specific. If it was 15 degrees with the car running normally, that's pretty normal, maybe a tiny bit high.

How the hell is 15 deg BTDC base timing normal?

I ran 15 deg BTDC base timing for a few years. The car ran FAST like this, but also with lots of knock, 20-30 counts. I was stil on stock exhaust at the time, so with an exhaust you're going to be running even leaner and potentially knocking even worse. It's good you kept boost levels moderate.

If you run race gas you'll run the risk of popping a headgasket with this base timing if there's sufficient knock suppression.

I'd turn it down a tad.

-aaron

 

[pianoman]

im gonna log it tomorrow, and see where its at, and yeah it does run fast, i'd turn the boost down lower if i could but with the exhaust it just runs at 15. SO i'll see what the palm says, i figured it was high. i'll prolly crank it to 7 and go from there. thanks for the help..

 

[kpt4321]

How the hell is 15 deg BTDC base timing normal?

Whoa man, slow down and think for a second.

I don't think he has he timing connectors grounded out. As such, he's not locking the timing down for adjustment.

I see 12-13 degrees of advance at idle, so 15 is not that extreme. I bet if he opened the BISS up a tad, it would drop right down.

If you run race gas you'll run the risk of popping a headgasket with this base timing if there's sufficient knock suppression.

What do you mean, blow a head gasket if there is decent knock suppression? Knock blows head gaskets, not knock suppression.

 

[gsx91boy]

Whoa man, slow down and think for a second.

I don't think he has he timing connectors grounded out. As such, he's not locking the timing down for adjustment.

I see 12-13 degrees of advance at idle, so 15 is not that extreme. I bet if he opened the BISS up a tad, it would drop right down.

Wait, 12-13 deg on the logger or on the timing marker? With it not grounded out it should be at 8 if base is 5 as shown with a timing light. He was talking about setting base timing, not what timing is @idle???

What do you mean, blow a head gasket if there is decent knock suppression? Knock blows head gaskets, not knock suppression.

15 deg BTDC base and decent boost might pop 'er if the ECU is giving out some good advance. With pump gas from what I can recall I'd only get 15 advance at most (assuming base 5) - with race gas the ECU might not start pulling timing soon enough *shrug* I've always heard too much timing may pop a headgasket.

-aaron

 

[pianoman]

ok, Just to get this stright, I took my timing light, hooked it up, bypassed the ecu, shut off the lights and checked it. the mark looked to be at about 15. now i logged it last night with pocket logger, and at idle, it would jump between 9-11. i had no knock until 6528 and then it climed a couple points, then i did another run and the knock said 5. but the timing was all over the place, the highest it said was 43. now is this logger telling me that my car is pulling 43degrees of timing or what? i know its running rich as crap cause its shooting flames when decelerating, and. Now sombody told me that pocket logger is set to run off of 5 degrees BTDC but i dont know if thats true. Also what are the high low and mid fuel trims. also since the logger is telling me 9-11 at idle, should i adjust it off of logger or bypass the ecu like you would normally do and adjust it with a timing light???

thanks.

 

[kpt4321]

What do you mean, "bypassed the ECU"?

The logger will tell you what it thinks your timing advance is, based on the assumption that the base is properly set at 5 degrees. If the base isn't set to 5 degrees, the logger reading is wrong.

Timing on the logger is timing, it has nothing to do with the amount of timing getting pulled. 43 is normal at higher engine speeds under very light throttle.