engine cut out while going along

[xpress]

.. then i cranked it and it started up again and was fine. also, i think the fuel consumption could be better. 20 city miles for a fiver? 24 to the gallon, not right surely?!

Please make any instructions idiot proof!

on the rotor arm, there's a 2mm burn on the right tip of it. does that suggest the timing needs to be advanced? can i physically move the whole distributor, (anticlockwise?) a couple of cm? if you saw this rotor arm in your car how many clicks would you advance the timing to get the burn more in the centre?

the car has not misfired once tho.

also i feel that the spark may be too early and the mixture might not be igniting fully? does the rotor arm burn pattern reflect this? it feels like it's pushing non combusted gases a bit flabby but the performance is high and it pulls well on all gears.

i could check the colour of the plugs. if the timing is slightly out with unburnt fuel as a result, would it show rich sooty plugs tho?

otherwise, does the mixture on the carb need backing off a bit?

[les]

To be honest it's not easy to tune an engine for someone verbally, there are many variables in each case. You would be far better to get a manual and follow instructions for each component, once they are set correctly you can then eliminate them one at a time. Basically they are the carburetter/pump, distributor/points, plugs/ht leads,coil and associated wiring.

[bmcecosse]

Stop worrying about that 'burn' mark....... As for cutting out - did the fuelpump tick furiously when you switched on ? And yes - 24 mpg in town could be all you will get.

[xpress]

No disnlt tick furiously and also it just, "went" suggestiihg LT? Is it accurate to time with the light ans the marks? Why 24 MPG the best I might get?

[phurn]

becuase your stop starting, accelerating and limited to 20/30 none of those things are good for your mpg, if you check modern cars on an urban cycle they only pull 28/30 so 24 isnt bad at all.

[bmcecosse]

Advance the timing till you hear 'pinking' when you accelerate in top gear - and then retard it slightly till it's 'not quite' pinking. It's the best you can do!