MTFCA Forum

When i increase the timing in the car the engine doesn't speed up. Everything outside moves but the engine timing doesn't seem to increase when i move the lever in the car. Help. Thanks in advance for the help.

Running on battery or magneto?

Everything outside moves...

???


Are you saying that moving the lever has no effect on how the car runs? Is the timer linkage disconnected?

Does the timer rotate when you move the lever? If you have a lot of slack in the linkage, it might not be moving. If you are running on magneto, you have about 3 or sometimes 4 positions where the timing actually advances or retards. It could be moving a bit but not far enough to actually advance or retard the spark.
What kind of timer are you using?
Norm

Tim, if I understand your post, advancing the timer does not increase the RPM. It usually doesn't. Advancing the gas will increase the RPM then you follow with advancing the spark to smooth out the engine. Except for starting the engine which has its own spark advance rules, you advance or retard the spark for what the engine RPM is currently doing, not for what you want it to do, and you advance or retard the gas for what you want the engine to do in the immediate future. Want to go faster, add gas, after the engine RPM actually speeds up you increase the spark to where it runs the smoothest. Want to slow down, reduce the gas, once the RPM drops off you retard the spark to smooth out the engine. Climbing a steep hill, you will probably keep adding gas until you cant add any more, and as the RPM drops off you should be retarding the spark to smooth out the engine. Taking a very steep hill in second gear will probably result in you maxing out the gas and retarding the spark to almost starting position.

Jeff what you are saying is true when driving but if you have the engine set at a certain rpm with the timing retarded and then advance the timing the rpms should increase without touching the gas. When I start my stem winders with the spark lever in full retard position and the throttle open a bit and then advance the spark there is a noticeable increase in rpms without touching the gas.

When starting my 21 I retard the timer or spark lever and advance the gas lever about 1/4 of the way. When the engine starts I then advance the spark and there is a very noticeable increase in rpm. If your T doesn’t speed up a bit when advancing the spark lever something isn’t hooked up right. Ask someone to advance the spark lever while you watch to see if the timer moves.

OP

do you in fact have an original (or similar) timer, or are you running a distributor?