Warm start problems - 88 1.6 carb

[Jack&Bec88]

You need to set the timing 1st then the mixture. Make sure the ignition side of things are all good and the air filter is either new or nice and clean then it’s the mixture.

Your not far from me then, I’m about 10 miles down the the A37 towards Yeovil in a little village of the A37.


I don’t use any lights etc to set my timing... I advance the timing till the engine “pinks” underload then back it off a little till the “pinking” stops.
You do need a quite road and preferably with a slight incline to drive up and down then stop and twist the dissy to set it.

I would mark where your dissy is now so you can see any adjustment being made.

Good idea on marking the dizzy first. I've never knowingly experienced pinking (my only other carbed car was a '68 Morris Minor and despite my teenage attempts to kill it it started on the key every morning and always ran like a top) and I'm wary about not noticing it's pinking and doing damage.

Lots of inclines around here to test it on though once I do get the hang of it.

[Jack&Bec88]

Just another thought after reading through your post... Is the new cambelt put on right? It’s really easy to be a tooth out when refitting it as when you tension the belt things move... I’ve done it before and ran for a few months with the belt a tooth out, my car was lacking a bit of power and not as smooth so it was before...

I'm 99.9% certain the belt is on right. A buddy from work helped me out who was a car mechanic through the 90's before switching to his current career in HGV repairs. We paint-penned the cambelt pulley against the block, and also the crank pulley against the block with the old belt still on. Then once the new belt was on we turned the engine over by hand twice before checking the marks again. The engine performance before and after the job was identical. It pulls nice and hard up to redline and idles happily at 750rpm.

[mark1gls]

You won’t do much damage with the timing out and “pinking” for a short time, it’s only if you leave it then damage can happen.

If you drive at about 20mph and car in 3rd gear so low revs, open the window and stick your head/ear out as much as possible then slowly press down on the throttle down towards the floor and listen for any ticking/pinking noise.

If you can get hold of the timing light then you can set it via the book but these cars do like a bit more advance...

Having a look at my Haynes manual it does say the 1.6 EW engine (I guess that’s what’s in your car?) will run on as low as 91RON petrol so normal unleaded should be fine?
Might be worth having a look online and see what others are using in there Mk2s as I’ve the 1.6 FR engine from 1978.

I do find mine ticks over better at a slightly higher idle speed with the Webber fitted, I’ve gone for 900rpm at idle....?

I started driving with an old mini and the as you say the A series engine would fire up with a quick flick of the key, I do find my carb feed Scirocco does need some throttle to start it when hot but maybe not as long as you say?

[WreckTangle]

Did you restrict the fuel return line when you fitted the Weber? I found this improved the performance of my Weber until I got around to ditching it in favour of a refurbished Pierburg. You could try temporarily clamping the return line and see if it starts quicker on a hot start. I gain the impression the Weber prefers slightly higher fuel pressure.

[Jack&Bec88]

Did you restrict the fuel return line when you fitted the Weber? I found this improved the performance of my Weber until I got around to ditching it in favour of a refurbished Pierburg. You could try temporarily clamping the return line and see if it starts quicker on a hot start. I gain the impression the Weber prefers slightly higher fuel pressure.

I haven't done that yet. I've read that a welding tip (0.8mm?) inserted into the return line before refitting it is a good way to help restrict it.