After reading a few of the posts on other threads of late about the advance lever on the drivers side of the IP and how it functions, this seems to be relevant to understanding why and how people are getting a varied range of timing characteristics (and glow plug readings, if that is what you are checking).............

First, we apply basic logic to what is known about the 6.9-7.3 IP and timing...........

1. when standing in front of the engine, it is known that rotating the IP housing towards the passenger side advances the timing......or rotating the housing counter clock wise advances the timing.......

2. if rotating the housing counter clock wise advances the timing......then the main shaft of the IP Must be rotating in a clock wise rotation...........

3. if the main shaft is rotating in a clock wise rotation, then to get a timing advance as rpms are increased, the internal cam ring Must rotate in a counter clock wise rotation..............

4. with the position of the timing advance lever on the drivers side, then applying More spring tension would push the timing advance piston from right to left of which would rotate the cam ring in a clock wise rotation (retarding the timing )

5. if you then look at the face cam that the other end of the lever it works on, you will see the the cam is so designed to increase the spring pressure as the engine rpms are increased...(all in a effort to either retard or at least keep the timing from advancing)...................

6. to further add to the heaver tension on the springs effort to retard the timing, there is a pressure port on the spring side of the advance piston bore that receives the pressure developed in the housing of the IP (at this point, the only valid information that I have is this housing pressure is about 10 PSI at 600 RPM,s of which aids in a further Retarding of the timing by about 6° .....................

7. this is where the cold start timing advance solenoid comes into play.........when current is applied to the solenoid......the valve is Opened.....relieving the housing pressure of which then allows the timing advance piston to move the cam ring about 6° advanced.........................

at least to me, the above very quickly explains why so many people have problems getting the timing set to optimum settings..............I think the obvious is that when set to factory specks, the timing advance system does not function as you would think it should......................

as I do more testing and studying this system setup and only after I validate the findings, I will add further commits .................

crossbones