re:AOL, Hey JohnS!,JLandry's Vacuum Post

["John Stricker" <jstricke@domain.elided>]

IH Guys and Gals (If we still have any gals, Amy?  You still here?)

>Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 20:51:11 +0000
>From: gehl@domain.elided
>Subject: Hey JohnS!
>Hey JohnS,
>Please explain your closure "Remove the nosp....".
>You're vegetarian?  I have a great spinach recipe for you!
>Mark

GOOD GOD MAN!!!!  A VEGETARIAN??? I SHUDDER AT THE THOUGHT.  Just ask Jim
Grammer about the size of the steak I had when he passed through last
spring.  ;8-)  Besides that, I get a significant portion of my annual income
from raising beef cattle.  Of course, I also grow alot of wheat as well.
But then we all know that man does not live by bread alone.

>Incorrect again... it's not for emissions purposes... it's because you
>don't *need* advanced timing at idle.  The fuel has plenty of time to >burn
a the low crankshaft speeds during idle.  As engine speed >increases, the
fuel needs to be ignited sooner so it can have time to >burn completely.

I've read this in several places, the IHC Loadstar service manual for one,
and it says "".....the vacuum advance unit might be hooked up to either
manifold vacuum or ported carb. vacuum.  Either way, the vacuum spark
advance curve is approx... the same for all running conditions above idle.
At idle however the manifold vacuum hookup results in full advance, while
the ported hookup gives zero advance.  If the hoses are hooked up the wrong
way, the addition or lack of advance will affect idle speed, requiring a
readjustment of the throttle position to bring the idle speed back to specs.
When this is done, emissions will usually be high, so it is important to
keep the hoses hooked up correctly."

Also, in referring to distributor controls, of which ported vacuum is one,
"All distributor controls act in some way to change or eliminate vacuum
advance during certain operating conditions.  Usually, the control cuts down
on the amount of vacuum advance under certain conditions, in effect
retarding ignition"(total advance, my emphasis)"so that the exhaust will get
hotter and burn up hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions before they go
out the tailpipe."
Remove the "nosp..........."

John L suggested going to the experts (always good advice) so there it is.
One other point on not messing with the timing other than "stock".  I prefer
to call it tuning rather than messing or fiddling.  The difference being
that you have 1) a fundamental idea of what you want the result to be and 2)
enough knowledge of the system that your adjustments have a good chance of
achieving the intended results.  When in doubt, ALWAYS   go back to the
stock settings on carb, timing, cooling, whatever.  You'll be surprised how
good it runs if it was arbitrarily messed with.

That being said, I have access to very good gas at reasonable prices here,
and as such can run about 3 degrees more initial timing.  The combination of
timing and the fuel gives me some (I'm sure) hp extra but a terrific
throttle response with no pinging.  In short, there are times the
recommended timing, etc. is NOT the optimum.  But it is pretty damn close
most of the time.

If you get into tuning carbs, distributors, whatever you really need to
follow two simple rules.  1)  Make your changes small.  If you advance (or
retard) your timing 10 degrees, and the engine runs like crap, you really
don't know if advancing the timing is a good or bad thing.  Just that 10 deg
is a bad thing. and 2)  Only work on one item at a time.  Don't advance your
timing and adjust your accelerator pump stroke at the same time.  How do you
know which one helped (or hurt).

Excellent post on dwell and point gap JohnL.  One other point of agreement
for the folks using AOL.  They're mail service is absolutely terrible.  Dump
them.  Get a real ISP.  If I have my choice of 3 in Russell, KS, don't tell
me you don't have one where you are.  Costs me less than $20/MO for
unlimited access and the minimum if all I wanted was to use it for email
would be under 10 bucks.  If you have a real ISP and  Netscape or IE, You'll
never miss AOL.

Happy Scouting,

John (I eat meat baaabbbeeee) Stricker

Oh hell, you folks know what to do and
why I had to put it in.  If one of you real humans wants to contact me:
jstricke@domain.elided
"I didn't spend all these years getting to the top of the food chain
just to become a vegetarian"