Military Lightweight Forum

Hello everyone,
I’d like to adjust my ignition timing, but my timing light doesn't work with shielded ignition cables. What's the trick? Thanks.

I ignore all that ritual, I adjust the timing for best smooth running not necessarily the max power. Bear in mind that modern fuel is rather different from the fuel used when the vehicle was manufactured so precise setting can be academic.

Look down the front of the engine at the crankshaft pulley. You should see a metal plate with 3 pointers just above. There is a notch in the pulley rim which is TDC of the No. 1 cylinder.

Rotate the engine with the starting handle until the notch is in line with the 3rd pointer (furthest right) and the rotor arm points to the No. 1 cyl spark plug lead . This should have your engine at TDC and is a good position to set your contact breaker points just opening with modern fuels.

Having got the engine started and warmed up take it for a road test. Find a hill (not too steep) and drive up in 4th gear at low revs (don't labour the engine) under full throttle. If you hear a rattling sound - pre-ignition ('Pinking'), retard the timing a little. If you don't hear anything then you can try advancing the ignition a little until you do, then back off a bit.

If after a longer trip the engine runs on a little when you switch off the ignition, you probably need to retard the timing a tad more.

Remember the distributor shaft rotates ant-clockwise. So turning the distributor body anti-clockwise retards the timing, clockwise advances it.

Thanks a lot for the explanations; I'm waiting for the new breaker points and condenser to carry out the adjustments.