In or Out of water timing

[Fox River Cruiser]

What is the proper way to time my engine. I currently set it in the driveway in neutral. Would it not be better to time it in the water, at idle in gear?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: In or Out of water timing

No

 

[Walt T]

Re: In or Out of water timing

Gee I wonder what engine it is

 

[hoot]

Re: In or Out of water timing

FRC, our english language is funny sometimes; your post reads like you put your engine in the driveway and time it, but enough of that. wherever you do it, let the engine warm up, put the outdrive in neutral, and use the timing light to set the timing. if you are in a driveway, be sure to use water muffs so as to not burn up the water pumps. i can see the newspaper now, 'boat runs loose in river as man falls overboard'. i do know of a man that went to a mall parking lot to set the idle speed on his car. the manual did say to put the car in drive to do this, so he bumped his car up against the parking space curb, left it in drive, got out and under the hood, and set the idle speed. but as we sometimes do, he decided to goose the throttle. his car jumped the curb and went out across the lot with him frayling under the hood trying to get out. luckily, he got free and stopped the car without incident. experience is a great teacher.

 

[Fox River Cruiser]

Re: In or Out of water timing

It's a OMC 2.3L ohc ford engine. I don't have the spec. in front of me but I think 10 deg btdc. My question was not about where it's done, but if the timing is set while the engine was under a load. Thanks

 

[John Boelte]

Re: In or Out of water timing

I was unsure of this also. After reading the Mercruiser manual (this was not my current boat), I was under the impression that the engine needed to be under a load also. I DID set the timing this way (tied to the dock), seemd to be OK. Should I reset it in the driveway?

 

[flashback]

Re: In or Out of water timing

when you set timing on a car engine, you do it while the car is in park or neutral, I don't see any difference between the two.........

 

[fireship1]

Re: In or Out of water timing

Hello, Timing gets set in neutral. Idle speed needs to be set in gear under slight load (tied to the dock) just my . 02 cents worth.

 

[Ron Everson]

Re: In or Out of water timing

The service manual for my 1975 225 OMC (305 c.i. Chevy) says to set the idle speed at idle in gear and the timing is set the same. I've always taken it to the lake and let my wife steer it around while I set the idle and adjust the timing. The old Reinell is pretty deep, so there's no danger of falling overboard, even with the normally rough water on McPhee. We find a quiet spot after warming it up, I just take the sunpad top off the engine compartment and hook up everything before she starts it up and puts it in gear. I have good access from three sides, so I can easily turn the distributor and turn the idle screw without endangering myself. When I have it right, we shut it down, unhook everything, and cover it up. I've always assumed that since the service manual said that it had to be set under load, that it made a difference. I did always notice that I could set the point gap perfectly and then check the dwell, and the dwell was off, so I always set the gap and ignored the dwell. That problem went away when I installed electronic ignition in the distributor last spring. I'll check it again this spring when I get it on the water.<br /><br /> Ron

 

[Fox River Cruiser]

Re: In or Out of water timing

Seems like there is two schools of thought here. I replaced the distributor, and installed a pertronix ignitor II last summer. Boat runs great at the current setting, but I just wanted to make sure I did it properly. I don't know if the year would make a differance it's a 1988.