OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Tecumseh / Kirby Engines Kirby-Tecumseh timing question?

I am a bit baffled by the timing on my Tecumseh Kirby. It has a Wico ignition system.

I have set the timing according to the manual, with the cylinder and valves all flush on the head at "rocker" position, then turned the crankshaft counter-clockwise a smidgen to gauge the correct gap on the cylinder head. Then I have reset the magneto coil position so that the points are just at the brink of opening when the cylinder is at this point. This is exactly the way the manual specifies.

But when I turn the engine clockwise after doing all of this, the points become fully open at the point where the engine is supposed to fire. It all looks backwards to me, but I am use to working with Bosch ignition systems which fire when the points are in the closed position.

Do these ones fire the other way around? I can only assume they must, otherwise "Houston, we have a problem!"

Looks like this one:

Seems I have answered my own question:

Click here - Basic Small Engine Repair - Tecumseh 4HP Copyright: Perry Babin

G'day vint-mow
again, great research and a great find in Babin's page.

So, in your case, what was the answer ...
turning that stator around 180 degrees?

Cheers
------------------
Jack

Hi Jack,

Actually it was all okay. I just had to move the magneto as far to one side as possible to compensate for the correct cylinder spacing. Even though Tecumseh reversed the position of the valves and ports, they still operate exactly the same way as before, which is only to be expected really. The firing of the contact points in open position is also perfectly correct. As I turn the engine over I can see it is doing everything in exactly the order that it should.

Now to complicate things a bit further, I noticed that the cam lobe and points off my old Kirby-Lauson were looking a bit dodgy. But I installed them so I could get the timing correct. Then I removed the wire off the points and totally removed the condenser. I fitted a Stens electronic ignition system instead. It works exactly the same way, firing at the critical time, so timing is unaffected. For some reason I notice the spark does not seem to be quite as strong as with the old points and condenser, but still there is a good spark there nevertheless. I guess only time will tell if the spark strength is up to the task.

I was talking to PaulC about these Kirby ignition systems and he mentioned that he has only ever seen two brands of ignition system used on the old Kirby-Lausons, and these are Phelon and Wico. In both cases the points fire when in the open position.