[Vwdiesel] Hillbilly tuning

[HWY9FERGS at cs.com]

Doug Ferguson here--Hagar wrote--

As time goes by , more and more of you will begin to tune by feel and sound.
So here are some notes.

We were asked :

What are the signs of advancing timing too far? Shawn Wright

The Hillbilly tuning procedure makes it clear that you should move the
pump a pencil line at the time. If you do it that way , you have nothing to fear.

When it gets too far the noise in idle ---( the marbles on the plate get bigger)
gets louder.  From where you can detect it and to the point where it will hurt
the engine ---is many pencils.

Do not do a Hillbilly and then do the injectors.  The sequence is important,
first the injectors then the Billy.

Now for the rest of indications lets ask the mechanics here ---how's about
it Loren and Ferguson ?.

Mine starts "too good"  and no smoke on a cold startup.  Does it wind up as
overheating ? maybe.And very rough idle.?.

Hagar


OK,,  As a mechanic, the main point I would like to make is this-- is the result worth the potential hazard?  If you advance your timing far enough past spec, you can guarantee engine damage.  How much is too much? That is the question. There are alot of variables to consider.  Load, temp, condition of your cooling system, etc etc.  VW takes all this into consideration when they come up with the specs they give out.  There may very well be a comfort zone built into those numbers that can be played around with, but how much do you gain? My best advice would be to stay with the stock timing and feed the engine with the best fuel you can come up with.  The crappy fuel that is available to most of us these days is probably the main reason we are even thinking about these other (tuning) issues.  What I'd like is to be able to come up with the best combination of ways to "beef up" the fuel.  For instance, if you add a few quarts of bio diesel to a tank of regular diesel, will it mix ok and be a good thing?  Or is that not a good idea?  How about some other oil.  Marvel Mystery oil is one that comes to mind, but is it too costly?  How about other options.  It seems like the oil companies have reduced the "heavier" oil contents (aromatics?)in the fuel to reduce smoking and particulates, but at some cost to our engine's happiness.  After all, these are "oil motors",  right Mercedes guys?  I was VERY interested in the story Hagar told a few issues back about the difference it made when he put the -what was it? Aircraft engine oil?/ in the fuel and how much of a huge difference it made.  Well, I'm relatively new to this diesel stuff, so I'll be watching for your replies.   

Doug