Hi guys, how's life?

So...I finally got round to checking/adjusting my EL's base timing. New timing light as the old one was MIA after several house moves. Read all the documentation (including a few search results from this very site), and figured I had it all sussed (I've done timing/tuning on older cars, but nothing as 'new' as this )

I use a female spade connector to bridge the two diagnostic pins (top left and bottom left) and start the car.

It starts idling at around 800 (rough guess) then a couple of seconds later jumps up to around 1150-1200rpm. This fast idle lasts maybe 10 seconds. With the light on the crank pulley the timing mark is a touch after 12 o'clock, well to the left of the pointer on the block. OK, I figure it mustn't be in 'base timing mode' yet.

So I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

...

'Base timing mode' never comes. I've tried over and over and over. Occasionally the idle will 'cough' and almost stall (as I'm lead to believe it's supposed to?) but the timing marks never change. I made sure the jumper is securely on the pins (even taped the bloody thing on). I figure the jumper is secure, as the car always goes into the fast idle mode within a few seconds of being turned on. The timing marks however are exactly the same as when the car is in normal idle mode (no jumper).

Anyone ever see this or know of a fix?

Thanks in advance,
A.

do it again but every 30 sec use your hand to blip the throttle while you watch the timing mark with your timing light. after 2mins the timing mark will stop moving when you blip the throttle then set your base timing, do it quick you have two minutes before the computer starts actively controlling the timing again.

Base timing mode doesnt start until all the error codes are read. So sometimes can take a few mins to get to it.

Or maybe thers there is an error code that is cancelling test mode, that can happen. You'd really need to read the codes as they come out to be sure. Aircon on or trans in drive / reverse can cause that.

If your not hitting the throttle or moving the wheel at the right time in test mode, there are 2 or 3 codes already.

Hi guys, thanks for the responses.

I'll try blipping the throttle every 30 seconds and see if there's any change in the behaviour.

OK - I've looked up how to read the error codes via the diag panel and I think I know how to do it (can you tell I've never dealt with this before? ) -

Bridge ENG STI to ENG GND (top left to bottom left pin same as before)

then

an LED across ENG STO (fifth pin top row) and B+ (12V supply, bottom right pin) with a 560Ohm resistor in series and count the blinks long/short.

Once I've 'read' the codes - does that mean they've been cleared from the ECU or do I need to do something else like drop the +ve battery terminal off for a bit?

Also - what are the right times for hitting the throttle/moving the wheel in test mode? My Ellery's manual is, er...a little 'light on' in details for this stuff. Do Ford still do the enormous factory workshop manuals? I remember I had one for my XF years ago - two absolutely massive books that covered everything in detail...

bbqburner: You're a legend. Next time someone shouts you beers, count one of them as being from me

I started the car and 'blipped' the throttle by hand (another task that would be 100 times easier if I was a midget contortionist) every 20-30 seconds and waited patiently.

It must've taken around 4-5 minutes (and probably 10 'blips'), but finally I heard the engine's idling 'voice' change dramatically, and sure enough - the mark on the balancer jumped to the right, right near the block marking. Naturally the first go round I hadn't loosened the hold-down bolt enough to turn the dizzy easily and ran out of time.

The next attempt had the car going into base timing mode in around 60 seconds as per the documentation I'd read previously - no throttle blipping required. Timing set, retightened the bolt then double-checked, awesome.

I gave it a fraction extra initial advance and a tank full of 98 unleaded. The initial test drive afterwards indicates this was a 'good thing(tm)' No pinging up a very steep hill, and much punchier off the mark (as punchy as it can be with the ridiculously long first gear, anyway...)

Thanks again,
Andy.

You're supposed to hit the throttle and turn the wheel side to side when a code reader flashes a light or beeps, which is usually about 20sec into the test, just after the ECU sends its ID codes.

It only needsd to be done once, but what you've done has done the job.

Since you had to wait 4 or 5 mins for the base idle mode, I'm thinking you have ALOT of error codes that need to be checked out.

Hmm, OK. I'll have to keep an eye on it (everything 'feels' fine at the moment and it's driving beautifully).

Just as an update on the fuel consumption after setting the timing: Previously I'd never been able to get more than about 550Ks out of a tank with mostly highway driving, and about 450Ks in the city. I've driven about 610Ks on the current tank, and the gauge is indicating I still have nearly 1/4 tank left, so looks like I might get 750...

sorry to hijack this thread, But i did all the above, shorted the 2 pins, started the car.

The car started normal, revs rised to about 1500+ish within the first few seconds, fell back to normal (which is around 1100 for me at the moment) then after that not much happened.

I tried "blipping" the throttle, but everytime i did it, the revs hung around 1500ish for at least 3-4 seconds before returning to normal, then after about 2-3 minutes of blipping waiting for the timing mark to move, i blipped again, and revs went up to around 2000, and would not come back down, i left it revving for about a minute, and wouldnt fall back..

I dunno whats going on?

Im going to hijack it as well, I put the EL computer into the EB along with the BBM. Do the old fault codes come with the computer or do they die when the 12v gets dc'd? Also, is there a different process in retrieving the codes between an EB and an EL? If so, which process do I use, the EB or the EL?