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I Need Help With The Timing For My 3K Engine


jfgarro

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Hi everyone! I need help with the timing for my 1973 Toyota Corolla State. It has the 3K engine with about 60.000km (I overhauled it about 8 years ago), the carburator is the stock item for this Corollas and everything is mostry OEM. About 2 months ago, I installed a Pertronix electronic module in the distributor, because points are hard to get in this times (and I'm getting tired of buying this part). According to the Pertronix site, I keep the resistance in the coil. Also, set the timing (with a timing light gun) to about 8° BTDC and put the octane selector in the zero setting (according to the Toyota manual), and set the iddle to about 800-850 rpm. However, under load and above 3.000rpm I can hear the engine pinging, the car has not power in the upper band and the economy is not the better. I try to solve this putting the initial ignition setting in 5° and keep playing with the octane selector, but the results are not the best (keeps pinging under load). When it had points, this problem didn't existed.

I also have a 1959 VW Beetle with a 1600cc dual carb engine and mechanical electronic distributor. For setting the ignition, many VW web sites advises to set the ignition to 30-32° BTDC at 3000rpm, and ignore the iddle setting (it falls were it must). Thinking in this line, have any of you information about the maximun advance setting for the ignition (and rpm for this) in a 3K engine??? For your information, in my country (Costa Rica) we have 88 and 91 octane fuel...I generally use the 91 octane fuel for my car.

Keep in mind my engine is mostly stock, only modifications are the electronic module in the dissy, and 4 into 1 exhaust header. The carb is in perfect condition, and also the distributor (everything is working as it should), the coil is almost new with the resistance working and there is no leaks or similar in the hoses. The car is used as a 40 years old car must be used, with care and respect (I know this is not a sport car or modern car), but this pinging sound, the lack of power in the upper rpm and the high consumption keeps me worried.

Any help will be usefull...and thanks in advance for your time!

 

Jose Garro

Costa Rica

Edited by jfgarro
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two of those things seem to work in opposite directions-

 

Pinking at full throttle or high load is from too much advance, but poor fuel economy and poor revving is from not enough advance.

 

When I was watching my ignition with a timing light it reached its maximum of 36deg before 3000rpm. You can mark the pulley with white paint spots at every 5deg and measure your own advance curve if you have a tacho.

 

Buy some octane booster and put that in the fuel to see if it stops the pinking. If it does you will have to retard the timing or use octane booster all the time. You might buy a bottle of octane booster at a spares shop or just buy toluene at a paint or chemical company. I used 10% toluene with petrol in the rally car.

 

If it doesn't stop it then the pinking must be from some other problem. Possibly the Petronix is advancing too fast in the rev range, or the maximum advance is too much. Do you have any data on the ignition curve from it?

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Hi Jose,

 

I installed a Pertronix electronic module in the distributor, because points are hard to get in this times (and I'm getting tired of buying this part).

 

Which model Pertronix module did you fit to your 3K distributor ? Was it the original Ignitor, or Ignitor II, or the Ingnitor III ?

 

Did you remove the distributor from the engine block, to fit the Pertronix module to it, or did you fit the module with the distributor in place / in situ ?

 

I presume the engine was running OK, before you fitted the Pertronix module, in regard to this pinging & lack of power that you describe, and these results only occurred directly after fitting the Pertronix unit.

 

What altitude are you living at in Costa Rica ? Early Toyota K series engines were notorious for changes in performance, as a result of altitude changes. I once had a 3K Corolla in a developing country where I drove it from a high mountainous area to the coast at sea level. The difference in preformance was enormous. I used to have to change the static timing once I got down to sea level, and visa versa when I returned home to the mountains.

 

If you can answer my above queries, we'll see if we can assist you some more.

 

Cheers Banjo

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