"Bumping" ignition timing?

tassone56 · Postby **tassone56** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:00 am

Hey guys,

ive searched eround for a topic on this but had no luck, i hope im not repeating anyone here, but does anyone know how to alter the ignition timing in an NA6? Is it easy to do youself? And what difference can it make?

I baught my NA6 early last year and it has been great.. but its a little laggy in some areas so im just looking for fine tuning things i can do to make a difference.

Any help on that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

zombie · Postby **zombie** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:07 pm

There's been a few threads about this, this one has a good amount of information including step by step instructions.

From all reports it seems a worthwhile mod on the NA, just be careful - if you advance it too much and the engine starts pinging (detonation) you will do damage. Running higher octane fuel is a good idea, as it inhibits detonation.

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:09 pm

you will also find instructions on www.miata.net in the garage section on how to advance the timing

tassone56 · Postby **tassone56** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:27 am

Awesome, thanks alot! i went and baught a timing light today for 25$ and sorted it all out. I had a slight problem when using it to measure the marking on the notch. I found that because the crank shaft was spinning so fast, as the light flashed, it would appear over a short distance rather than at one specific point, at a range from like 14/15 degrees to 10 degrees. So i turned the CAS a little but decided not to increase it by the full 3/4 degrees as i had initially intended, just in case the reading was inaccurate and i was in fact moving it too high :oops:

Now im not sure if this was a problem, but if it was, i fixed it anyway.. When connecting the jumper pin ( or in my case, a paperclip

) to the two terminals in the diag. box, all the write ups said that the idle speed should be around 850 rpm and if necessary, adjust it so that it is. Well when i did it, my revs dropped to around 200 rpm! I was suprised it didnt just conk out. As you could imagine, i was turning that idle setting screw for quite a while. does anyone know what this could mean? All fixed now though

I also tightened my throttle cable today.. it had heaps of slack in it too, so together with the ignition timing adjustments, my car is a whole lot better to drive now. It just feels "tighter" and more responsive.

Thanks again for the replies, big help!