Thoughts on a manual trigger for the cold timing advance.

[F350camper]

I know this has been discussed before, albeit for different reasons. But what is the consensus on a manual trigger for the cold timing advance?

This is all purely hypothetical of course , but let’s say that some guy is burning some weird fuel that has a way lower cetane rating than #2. Then, let’s also say that this guy was thinking that it might be cool to be able to advance his timing on the fly by 3° or so to help compensate for the lower cetane rating.

Any thoughts on having the cold timing advance engaged for long periods of time? When it is engaged I don’t really know how it works so its hard for me to imagine if it would damage the pump.

 

[Agnem]

Huff has been doing it for years. I'd say he has proven that there is no harm to the IP from keeping it turned on. He wanted the ability to retard, rather than advance, so he keeps it on all the time, and only turns it off I believe when his propane kicks in.

 

[160k87F250]

I've thought about doing this with a "momentary on" switch, like a push button. That way, if I need a little extra power, I can press the button, advance the timing, then let off when I'm done. I was just going jump the temp sensor and run a switch to the cab.
John

 

[Agnem]

Just remember the high idle and timing are tied together. If you want to run one independent of the other, a diode will do the trick.