Most likely ignition timing.
To be certain, put #1 piston at TDC on compression stroke and ensure that
both valves are closed. They won't be "exactly" closed depending upon the
lob centre angle of the camshaft you have. However, should be close.
Likely, the inlet valve will close just after TDC. If this is happens, your
cam timing is likely correct and you should focus on your ignition timing.
With resepct to Ignition timing, being off 2" does not necessarily mean that
the distributor is in wrong.....if such was the case, you would be out 180
degrees.....likely the distributor was not tightned down and simply
rotated....move it back to where it belongs and try starting. Going by
memory I think it should be at 15 degrees BTDC at static.....but, you should
double check with the manual.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: healeys-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:healeys-bounces@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Jorge Garcia
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 7:49 AM
To: Austin Healey
Subject: [Healeys] BJ8 timing is way off what do I do now?
I have not been able to start my BJ8 since last year when I replaced the
starter. The engine cranks, the spark plugs fire, there is fuel in the carbs
and fuel lines but the car refuses to start. This has been a problem that
has plagued my car since I bought it many years ago.
I decided to go for the basics and try to set timing manually and remove the
valve cover to check valve clearance as I rotated the engine.
I connected a lamp at the coil and the grounded the other side. I rotated
the engine by hand to TDC - crank pulley mark matched up to timing indicator
on timing case. Turned ignition on and the light did not come on. I rotated
the engine to 10 deg BTDC (with ignition still on) and the light still did
not come on. I started rotating the engine clockwise until the light came
on. This happened when the crank pulley mark was approximately 2" past TDC.
My question to the group is does this mean that cam timing is off (way off)
because of a problem with the timing chain which I suspect is the original
with 80k miles on it. Or is the distributor stuck in wrong? The distributor
was rebuilt a couple of years ago and reinstalled by my mechanic. It did run
after that but it was always very difficult to start.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jorge
PS - The points were replaced with a Pertronix unit a few years ago.
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