timing

[jbonifas]

Vette is running a little sluggish. I reset the time to 8 deg BTDC. In all the books, it refers to the VECI under the hood. What should the timing be set at for an 81? I don't have the emission control BS on the car anymore, have headers etc. It was running really bad, probably >20 deg BTDC, until I reset it. What does advancing the timing do? I would like a little more response when I step on the gas. 10, 12 deg?

 

[Tom Bryant]

Are you still running the ECM?

 

[jbonifas]

Good to hear from you Tom. I guess so. Anyway, I adjusted the timing to 8 deg and it stopped missing, but still was a little weak. I readjusted to 12 deg and it runs really well. I guess what I was looking for was someone to tell me to set it 4 notches before zero and then 6 notches if it needed some more response.
Thanks again.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Yes. We need another L81 get together.

One other thing to try is to disconnect the battery for about 15 minutes to erase the ECM. When your engine was running poorly it put all of the settings into the memory that it used to try to correct the problem. With the memory erased it will learn the new settings with the engine running well. Things usually smooth out some after doing this. I don't see anything wrong with 12 degrees as long as it doesn't ping.

Tom