Help! I set the timing on the car last night, but something doesn't seem right. When I set it to 27 btdc, the idle screams up to 3200 rpm. I had found both of the timing marks, so I verified my settings by dialing the timing light to 0 and then to 27, and hit both the marks on the money. Motor was warm, vacuum lines unplugged, and timing set at 3500 rpm.

Here are the specs on the motor: fairly recently rebuilt 2.0, D jet, (appears to be a '73 throttle body as it has a vacuum line to the backside of the vacuum advance on the dizzy) and it supposedly has a dizzy in it out of a 1.7, evidently the curve is different...

So my questions are WTF do I do? Should the timing be set differently with this distibutor? Is there another way to dial the idle on down? Am I totally out to lunch? I do have a proper 2.0 dizzy, maybe do I need to just pop that in and try it?

I tried turning the ECU knob, made no difference...the air bleed screw is cranked all the way in....the aar and cold start valve are plugged, decel valve is gone, no vacuum leaks that I can detect. What am I missing?

You have unplugged a vacuum hose somewhere to get in that high of a rpm. Or a hose has cracked.

Geoff

I will take a look at that, Geoff, thanks. When I turn the distributor in a way that would retard the timing, the idle drops right down to where it needs to be and stays there. Still a vacuum leak? I will check that when I get home....

Any suggestions on how to set the ECU idle by ear?

This is off topic but did your car knock or ping from to advanced a timing??

Actually my problem is that the timing was too retarded to offset the vacuum leak which I have not yet had a chance to look for yet. No knocking or pinging that I noticed.

Any takers on setting the ECU by ear? Any good trial and error methods out there?

Maybe you have the retard hose on the advance port of the dizzy, check that.

You can't adjust the ECU idle until this is sorted out.

Geoff

"Motor was warm, vacuum lines unplugged, and timing set at 3500 rpm."

Did you plug the vacum lines after you unplugged them from the dizzy?

thats why I wonder if he put them in the right spots