What happens if point gap is too large?

Too wide a point gap decreases the dwell angle. This does not give the coil sufficient time to charge, resulting in a weak spark. It also slightly retards the timing. In short, either too wide or narrow a point gap will cause a misfire under load.

Why is it important to set ignition point gap?

Setting the Point Gap. Getting the best gap between the points is essential for engine performance and reliability. Set the points too wide and the spark plugs don’t get enough juice — your engine whimpers. Set them too close and the engine works fine for a few miles.

How to advance your ignition timing for great performance?

Following this step, you need to hook up your inductive timing light – one connector goes to the #1 HT lead, and the other goes to a power supply. If your battery is in the boot like with the MX-5, then clamping to the rear of the alternator is a good substitute for power. Finally, hook up your ground lead to a metal bracket on the engine.

When do you set the dwell on a point engine?

You read above that the ignition timing is the last thing to set when tuning the engine. Your dwell, and thus your points gap, needs to be set before you get out the timing light. To set the dwell, remove the distributor cap and rotor, ground the coil wire and remove all the spark plugs from the engine.

What should the point gap be on a Haynes P1800?

The Haynes manual recommends a point gap of .016-.020 inches for engines used in the P1800. I used to set my points at exactly .018″, but they didn’t last long, and once I had to stop by the side of the road and file and reset them to get the engine running.

Why does a point gap affect ignition timing?

The reason for this is that the points gap directly affects the ignition timing, which is one reason why electronic ignition modules make good sense as the relationship between electronic ignition and ignition timing remains constant, whereas with points gaps it changes with time and wear.

What should ignition timing be at 800 rpm?

06Okay, let’s say your engine requires the ignition timing to be set at 10 degrees BTDC at 800-950 rpm with the vacuum hose disconnected and plugged. Simply pull off the vacuum hose from the distributor as shown and plug it to stop air leaking into the carburettor.

What is the proper way to measure an ignition module air gap?

Here’s the problem, the stihl setting gage seems to set the air gap too tight, like 0.004″ measured between the ignition module arms and the flywheel magnets using a feeler gage set. It seems as though the center coil pick up on the ignition module has a wider air gap. Now my question, what is the proper way to measure an ignition module air gap?

What happens if point gap is too large?