Reply To: ignition timing

[Don]

mike n wrote:

hate to throw a WRENCH in all of this but if the points are both set to .020 then wouldnt they have about the same dwell.by changing the point gap to get them to open at the right time ,you change the dwell i think? unless its a very small amount i guess?

They might have the same dwell, but that does not ensure the timing is even/right. on both cylinders….The dwell certainly plays a part in the timing on one of these engines, but it is not the only consideration…Think of an old chevy V8 with conventional ignition….First you set the dwell, then set the timing with the engine running….But, if you readjusted the dwell after setting the timing, the timing would be slightly different…
On this outboard, there are two notches on the flywheel…Anywhere in between the two notches is “OK”….But, I’m betting your timing will show up between the two notches if you set the gap to .020”. Needless to say, using the timing fixture is more exact…But, the small stack up of tolerances will probably end up showing a slightly different result statically vs. running with the timing light…
But, again, I just don’t want you to get mired down in the fine details here and get even more confused. By all means, set the timing/dwell with the fixture and ohmmeter if you feel confident in the procedure after watching it online and reading the posts. But again, there is a “timing fixture” that is prescribed/supposed to be used instead of the flywheel for this procedure. But, after thinking about it a bit, using the flywheel may actually be a more precise way of doing this job…But, it is much easier with the “timing fixture”….