timing

[gally]

went to do timing on the van today.haynes manual says disconnect plugs from idle stabilizing unit and join them together.
i have tried but these plugs will not join,so i reconnected them to unit and timed it up.
will this make any difference ?
also i could not get the two marks to line up exactly,got as close as i could.
it was like if i turned one way both marks moved in the one direction.if i turned the other both moved the other direction ?
gally

[toomanytoys]

The 2 round 3 pin plugs on the black box next to the ignition amplifier should/do plug together..

When you say "both marks moved" do you mean the 0 degree (TDC and "U" shaped further away from the engine) and the 10 degree (BTDC and "V" shaped nearest the engine)
Of course both will "move" as they are on the pulley..

the "V" s the one you are interested in, if you are running on 97/98/99 unleaded then this should be in line witht he case split at tickover following the haynes intructions, if you want to run on 95 unleaded then you must mark a line half way between the 2U" and "V" and that will be 5 degrees..
This is assuming you have a std 10 degree pulley and not a late VW recon pulley where they put the "V" in the 5 degree position..

[gally]

thanks for that toomanytoys
sorry for the late reply was away for the last week.
had another look today ,my idle stab unit is grey not black and plugs wont join.
inside one of the plugs is a male piece stopping them from joining.
my van is 2.1 automatic and i think i read on here that they have a different idle stab unit.
anyway checked timing without joining plugs and it was spot on. will this be ok ?

[jason k]

your looking at the wrong set up.

thats for carbs

is your engine an mv or dj 2.1?

[toomanytoys]

AH.. auto version.. thats different.. the one I worked on recently didnt have the stabiliser and never did have.. The auto does have a different ECU to the manula version though...

best post a pic of the unit so we can see what box is there..