Ignition Timing Question
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 328
Likes: 13
From: Trabuco Canyon, California
Hcochoa...I am not sure if I am having a timing issue or not...at first I thought I had a rich condition on the carb but due to the idle mixture setting it looks like I was running lean...
The symptom I was having was poor idle, very sluggish and jerky when moving from a start... I was able to compensate for the condition by turning the idle mixture screw almost all the way out...I tried going up some jet sizes for the idle jet but it did not help....I also checked alot of the electrical including replacing plugs and wires and doing checks on the coil, ignition module stator and voes, and all seem ok...
So I am thinking mostly that the problem is some dirt that passed through the fuel line and into the idle circuit for the carb,,,but I plan to check the timing just to make sure that is right before i pull the carb.
Whay kind of symptoms are you having on your bike?
The symptom I was having was poor idle, very sluggish and jerky when moving from a start... I was able to compensate for the condition by turning the idle mixture screw almost all the way out...I tried going up some jet sizes for the idle jet but it did not help....I also checked alot of the electrical including replacing plugs and wires and doing checks on the coil, ignition module stator and voes, and all seem ok...
So I am thinking mostly that the problem is some dirt that passed through the fuel line and into the idle circuit for the carb,,,but I plan to check the timing just to make sure that is right before i pull the carb.
Whay kind of symptoms are you having on your bike?
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 328
Likes: 13
From: Trabuco Canyon, California
Thanks mia, yes checked for vacuum leak...replaced vacuum hose twice...and tested voes, it is working...After reading that others sometimes had problem in that area, I was really hoping it was my problem too.
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 328
Likes: 13
From: Trabuco Canyon, California
Dr.Hess...looks like you are right about the timing...I've never done it before on the bike, although it was last done maybe 55k miles ago so I believe it was overdue to be checked anyway.
From what I could tell, the dot seemed pretty centered...I'm not sure how sensitive the adjustment is. I followed my HD manual and referenced this website too:
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/i..._timing_00.htm
The book say to have the idle st to around 1400 rpm if I remember right, while the above webpage says 950-1050 for world models and 1150-1250 for CA models...I tried to check it both at 1000 rpm and 1400 rpm, using the sight glass...it seems like my dot looked like the one if figure 1. for the early style before 1980...this doesn't make sense to me since I have 1986...could harley have changed something in my bike during the reman I had done in 2002? The dot seems centered or maybe a hair to the left of center...is it so critical that it should be adjusted if it seems slightly left of center? Or maybe I was seeing the wrong thing?
I scanned google and couldn't find any videos showing what it should look like, and of course, diagrams in the book show everything looking perfect
From what I could tell, the dot seemed pretty centered...I'm not sure how sensitive the adjustment is. I followed my HD manual and referenced this website too:
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/i..._timing_00.htm
The book say to have the idle st to around 1400 rpm if I remember right, while the above webpage says 950-1050 for world models and 1150-1250 for CA models...I tried to check it both at 1000 rpm and 1400 rpm, using the sight glass...it seems like my dot looked like the one if figure 1. for the early style before 1980...this doesn't make sense to me since I have 1986...could harley have changed something in my bike during the reman I had done in 2002? The dot seems centered or maybe a hair to the left of center...is it so critical that it should be adjusted if it seems slightly left of center? Or maybe I was seeing the wrong thing?
I scanned google and couldn't find any videos showing what it should look like, and of course, diagrams in the book show everything looking perfect
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 701
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From: The Great Southwest Desert
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Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 328
Likes: 13
From: Trabuco Canyon, California
I haven't checked inside the timing cover yet. But I'll be careful tightening things there.
The diagrams show the front cylinder advance mark (for early models) as a vertical line and the front TDC mark as a large dot positioned low. When I am looking at the timing, should I see this dot superimposed on the vertical line? In other words should the timing light give a flash that alternately lights up each mark? Or should I just be seeing the dot? I only remember seeing the dot...if there was a vert line it was not obvious. Maybe I need to go back in there and paint the dot and line as I saw was suggested in other threads elsewhere.
The diagrams show the front cylinder advance mark (for early models) as a vertical line and the front TDC mark as a large dot positioned low. When I am looking at the timing, should I see this dot superimposed on the vertical line? In other words should the timing light give a flash that alternately lights up each mark? Or should I just be seeing the dot? I only remember seeing the dot...if there was a vert line it was not obvious. Maybe I need to go back in there and paint the dot and line as I saw was suggested in other threads elsewhere.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,325
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From: Picayune, Ms.
The timing marks vary from year to year and in some instances day to day it seems like. When assemblying the engines they "install" what is available and use all the components before moving on. So if you have a crossover model there is no telling what you have. An example my bike is a 2001 which should have the pickup on the cam, but it has the pickup on the crank, because it was a cross-over model. So what is in the manual sometimes doesn't transfer to what you got.
Find top dead center using the previous recomendations, then you will know what you got. Just pull the plugs and turn the engine over until you feel air comming out of the front jug, then put one of those plastic straws in the spark plug hole and when it stops moving up you know that you are there. Hang onto the straw :-)
Find top dead center using the previous recomendations, then you will know what you got. Just pull the plugs and turn the engine over until you feel air comming out of the front jug, then put one of those plastic straws in the spark plug hole and when it stops moving up you know that you are there. Hang onto the straw :-)