Chapter 1 Routine maintenance and servicing

1595Ford Fiesta Remake5B•8 Ignition systemaccordance with the manufacturer’sinstructions.8 Start the engine, bring it up to normaloperating temperature and allow it to idle.9 Disconnect the vacuum pipe from thedistributor and fit blanking plugs.10 If the timing light is now directed at theengine timing marks, the pulley notch willappear to be stationary and opposite thespecified mark on the scale. If the marks arenot in alignment, release the distributor clampbolts slightly and turn the distributor body inwhichever direction is necessary to align thepulley notch to the appropriate scale mark.Tighten the clamp bolts fully when the settingis correct.11 Using a suitable punch, re-mark thecylinder head and/or the distributor flange toindicate the new distributor timing position forany future repair operations.12 The operation of the centrifugal advanceweights in the distributor can be checked byincreasing the engine speed with the timinglight pointing at the engine timing marks andobserving that the pulley notch advances fromits initial position.13 To check the vacuum advance, run theengine at a fast idle speed and reconnect thevacuum pipe. The pulley notch should againadvance.14 Stop the engine, disconnect thetachometer and timing light and reconnect thevacuum pipe. Refit the timing aperture cover.15 If the timing notch did not appear to moveduring the centrifugal advance check, a faultin the distributor centrifugal advancemechanism is indicated. No increasedmovement of the notch during the vacuumadvance check indicate a punctureddiaphragm in the vacuum unit, or a leak in thevacuum line.16 On completion of the adjustments andchecks, switch the engine off, disconnect thetiming light and ensure that the distributorvacuum pipe is securely connected.Distributor ignition systems (pre-September 1990 CVH engines withCFi fuel injection)Note: When an engine is timed in productionit is set, using a microwave timing system, toan accuracy of within half a degree. Unless itis essential, do not remove the distributor oralter the ignition timing. If no distributor timingposition punch marks are present on thecylinder head and distributor body flange,make your own before disturbing the setting(see illustration 8.2).17 The method of obtaining correct ignitiontiming, with both original punch markspresent, is described in paragraph 3 above.18 If (due to component renewal) one or bothof the punch marks is missing, anapproximate ignition timing setting can beobtained to enable starting of the engine byfollowing the instruction given in Section 8,paragraph 16.19 Accurate ignition timing adjustment canonly be carried out using specialisedequipment - this is a task for your Ford dealeror other suitably equipped specialist. Thereason for this is that the EEC IV enginemanagement module has to “lock” its internalignition advance compensations and its idlespeed control whilst the timing is set. The“locking” of the EEC IV module is performedin “self-test” mode when connected to theFord STAR test (Self-Test Automatic Readout)equipment, which is also used to access faultcodes stored in the module memory andanalyse the performance of the systemcomponents. New punch marks should bemade after accurate timing has been carriedout, as necessary.