I have an M series crawler that's been sitting for about a year since it last ran. It wouldn't start - turns over but no fire. I worked out that it had no spark, and managed to open the magneto and clean the points. The good news is that it now has a spark ... the bad news is that I fear I may have changed the timing by accident if I moved one of the cog wheels in the magneto ;-( (I don't know much about these things ;-) )It turns over, and seemingly attempts to fire. White smoke comes out the exhaust stack, then it sounds like it's about to catch but goes "thunk" and stops dead ... I'm guessing (in ignorance) that it might be firing just before the top of the compression stroke, rather than just after? Is there any easy way to check the timing (or at least if I moved the cog connected to the distributor arm by accident?). I have an owners manual, and it gives instructions, but they look complex .... is this too complex a procedure for a beginner? Is the procedure below necessary if I just took the distrubutor cap off, and need to realign the distrib arm with the magneto, or is the full procedure only if I removed the magneto?
Logic tells me that the timing is totally governed by the distrib arm ;-( "To time magneto: disconnect the spark plug wires, turn the motor until No 1. Piston is coming up on the compression stroke. Continue to turn until impulse coupling clicks. Remove timing hole cover. Then turn the motor backwards until FIRE mark on the flywheel lines up with the timing hole. In this position the white mark on the magneto rotor must be centered in the window, which is in the rear end cover of the magneto. If it does not, loosen capscrew and nut and turn magneto either to the R or L until the mark is centred. Then tighten the nut & capscrew." I guess most of this confuses me ;-) How do I tell when the No 1 postion is coming up on the compression stroke? I'm not even sure how to turn the motor by hand ;-) Thanks very much for any advice, Martin.
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