I have my idle down to about what it should be by reading the dash tach, yeah I know it's not that accurate.

The problem has to do with the timing marks. They're 1/4 of the way down, on the drivers side?? Lowering the idle (or raising) didn't budge it. Also when I adjust the distributor, the marks only move further away, and only a tiny bit closer if you turn the other way, which makes it want to die. Did someone miss a tooth when reinstalling it, before we owned it?? As far as I know no one has ever worked on the ignition after my wife bought it, which was YEARS ago.





Also now that the idle is turned down to about 750-800 (+or-) the car is idling, but has a steady miss. If you speak the following, it's about what it sounds like....dome, dome, dome, dome....and so on, haha... https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...R#>/unsure.png

Yup, and adjusting the idle won't change the timing.

Haynes manual makes a huge deal out of adjusting the idle, before working on the timing. It's the only reason I mentioned it. It was idling around 1100-1500 before. So how much is this affecting the way the motor runs? Should the rotor go counterclockwise to fix, or clockwise?,,,,BB



I swear I never had it out, so it's been like this the entire time we've owned it I guess....

It's also not doing the funny idle anymore. One of the many ghosts in this machine.,,,,BB

Read that a few times already, but thanks? Do you happen to know which way to turn the rotor to make the marks move towards the pass. side?

It's been a while since I've set timing on a rotary (or anything for that matter), but IIRC the rotor turns clockwise, right? If so you would turn the gear one tooth counter-clockwise to retard timing (move the marks towards the passenger side) and clockwise to advance the timing (move them towards the driver's side). Remember to read your timing with the engine over 2500 rpm (and some say with the vacuum blocked off). The stock timing is 0 degrees advanced on the leading and 8 degrees ATDC on the trailing. The most recommended timing is 24 degrees advanced leading and 16 degrees advanced trailing. No matter how much leading advance you run, the recommended trailing timing is 8 degrees less.



Yes, changing the idle mixture or speed can affect timing by way of the vacuum advance, but I really don't think it's enough to cause the problems you're having. If your idle is still high after setting your timing and you can't adjust it down, look again for vacuum leaks. If I remember right you've been all over your engine looking for vacuum leaks.



Check the plastic carb baseplate and the permanent gaskets stuck on it. They're pretty well reusable, but make sure they're intact and sealing.



Check the intake manifold gasket. Spray WD-40 around the top of the manifold while it's running. If you haven't ever had the intake manifold off, you might want to anyways just to replace the coolant o-rings and check for leaks or corrosion.



Check the anti-afterburn hose on the back side of the intake. If it tears it can cause a huge leak. The hose usually sucks in around the hole.



Check your brake booster and diaphragm. While the engine's idling, clamp off the vacuum line to the brake booster with a pair of vise grips.



Get a Green Bay cheese-head hat, spray paint it silver, put in on and dance around while praising the rotary gods. It can't hurt.

Every timing light I used in my youth had no dial on it. You set the timing with the light, and that was that. I bought a timing light a few years ago, though I've never used it, and it has the dial. Being that there's no numbers on the timing marks, I can only assume you mean setting the dial to 24, and reading the timing while the engine is running above 2500rpms? Forgive my ignorance, please. I just never used a timing light with the dial on it.,,,,BB



I did notice a BIG improvement in the engine behaviour when I replaced the brake booster hose. That, and plugging the deceleration valve hose and air cleaner made the engine stay running finally. I want to replace the deceleration valve, but the local Mazda place wants $100 for a new one, and $50 for used.

I did find this article, and am trying to soak it all in. So I have to yank the pulley off, make the measurements, and mark them? Sounds like a pain to me. But if it has to be done, it has to be done. It also mentions I may not pass emissions with those settings?? That's the first thing I need to do, so stock setting will suffice until then I hope?,,,,BB







http://www.rhinoracing.com/yaw/timing.htm

So where do I find the evil $60 pulley mentioned in all the marking articles? I think I would rather get one of those, rather than guessing if I did it right? Was it something offered years ago that has since been discontinued? I cannot seem to find it anywhere?,,,,BB