14º timing mod?

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:02 pm

Had a guy come into my work the other day and got talking stuff about mx5s's when he asked me if I'd done the 14º ignition timing mod to mine.
He said that you just have to run 98 octane fuel(have been since i got the car) and that it gives a very noticeable improvement in power

What's involved in doing this mod? Im very interested in how its done and how noticeable it is or if there's any repercussions

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:49 pm

siren676 wrote:Had a guy come into my work the other day and got talking stuff about mx5s's when he asked me if I'd done the 14º ignition timing mod to mine.
He said that you just have to run 98 octane fuel(have been since i got the car) and that it gives a very noticeable improvement in power

What's involved in doing this mod? Im very interested in how its done and how noticeable it is or if there's any repercussions

Timing light or full ecu. Just don't advance it too much otherwise you might make them rotate backwards. It makes the explosion occur closer to top which gives more power but too much and you lose your gains quickly. Easy enough to reverse also to bring it back to stock

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:58 pm

I understand what it does in theory, just not sure how to actually change the ignition timing on b6 engines.
Really just looking at anything to keep me entertained till i can afford a supercharger kit

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 11:18 pm

Ah, you use the timing lights and do some fiddling and voila. I actually have no idea as I wanted to do it but the ended up with the ecu which can do it via a laptop

It's quite simple I believe though.

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 11:42 pm

hook up a timing light to #1 cyl. jumper between "TEN" and ground on the diagnostic connector and start the car and see where your timing is at. you adjust your timing by rotating your CAS sensor on the back of the head....easy

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 11:49 pm

Sweet, will have to borrow dads timing light and see how i get on

Snapfrozen · Post by **Snapfrozen** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:24 am

Very important thing to note. You are essentially shifting the power band approx 1000rpm lower, so depending on your driving style you MAY lose power in the rev range you want it in. It CAN cause detonation/engine wear/premature failure, I would recommend a compression check first at minimum, and to confirm your plugs are clean/new/gapped correctly.

You MUST use high octane gas, I would recommend 98, never anything less. I lost top end power

*edit*
http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/articles/viewarticle.aspx?id=17

and here

http://www.miata.net/garage/KnowYourCar/S10_Timing.html

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:24 am

Angreal wrote:Ah, you use the timing lights and do some fiddling and voila. I actually have no idea as I wanted to do it but the ended up with the ecu which can do it via a laptop

It's quite simple I believe though.

you still have to set your base timing even with a hydra same as a factory ecu
itll tell you what to set your base timing to in the installation manual.

what if your base timing is already set to 14 not 10 all your maps will be wrong

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 9:22 am

Good point. Pretty sure I'm on the stock 10 degrees but will get everything sorted in a few months when I get the blower installed

warrior · Post by **warrior** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:13 am

Thousands of people hjave done this mod (including me) Yes use 98 fuel but it is very safe to do. What supercharger are you going with?

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:10 am

Having a very serious think about the sc12 kit on trademe.

Will be interesting to see where the timings at now

warrior · Post by **warrior** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:20 am

I have driven there car with that kit on it, I think you can get the bigger c14 kit now, from what I can see it looks a lot better and would give you about 15% more power which is allways nice.

I have a Jackson racing M45 kit on mine.

warrior · Post by **warrior** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:29 am

You are welcome to come around and have a look at my supercharger install and we can set your timing if you want to.

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:31 pm

Awesome mate. Will have to pop around once mines certed and road legal again.

warrior · Post by **warrior** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:41 pm

What are you certing it for? If you put a SC kit on it in a few months it will have to be done again wont it?

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 9:21 pm

Needs cert for coilovers and to get my parents off my back

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:40 pm

siren676 wrote:Needs cert for coilovers and to get my parents off my back

You would be best to take the coilovers out 'till you do the sc to get the folks off your back, and put the $500 you save on not having to cert twice toward the supercharger

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:44 pm

that implies that i actually have the patience to change the suspension again

If its already been entered in the wof system as needing a cert for coilovers wont they reject it if ive just fitted normal suspension again?

dylann · Post by **dylann** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:19 pm

They shouldn't fail it, when i had my old r32 i failed on uncerted coilovers, took it back after i swapped the stock suspension back in and drove off with a wof.

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:27 pm

Sweet may do that then. I wanted to get a torsen and a few other things before getting it certed as well.

I can see tomorrow being full of cursing

I need at least 1 legal car as both mine have run out of wofs and the mx5 is the easiest/cheapest fix

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:43 pm

I did the 14 degrees mod about 12 years ago and have never had any issues. The first time i did it I noticed a big improvment from about 4500 rpm onwards. It seemed to pull a little stronger in that rev range.
I have always run 98 since I had the car.

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:20 pm

Sounds good then, will have to borrow my dads timing light and give it a go.
How do you get the timing light to work with the battery being in the boot?

stooji · Post by **stooji** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:30 pm

one jumper lead from positive to get power to the front is prob the easiest. can just clip the earth to the engine or similar.

siren676 · Post by **siren676** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:34 pm

Haha typical kiwi diy there

sounds like a plan

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:25 pm

siren676 wrote:Sounds good then, will have to borrow my dads timing light and give it a go.
How do you get the timing light to work with the battery being in the boot?

Use the blue connector as shown

14º timing mod?

14º timing mod?

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