84 evinrude 35hp timing

[EZSteury]

I went back to the boat with the timing gun and hook it to the top spark plug cylinder, then I removed both plugs and grounded the bottom wire. I marked the flywheel at 26 degrees and set the timing gun to advance at 26 degrees as well, cranked the engine and it was off by far too retarded, so I keep turning the screw IN until it is very close, unfortunately the plastic cam plate could not slide any further but I checked and re-checked several times, the timing shows to be at 26 degrees which with the engine running will raise to the 30 degrees the manual calls for. My question is now, is there something I'm missing or was the timing off for this long and no one noticed? I had to rebuild the engine when I got it (broken piston ring) but the bolt advance/retard bolt was frozen in place when I started working on it, how could the timing be off so much for long before I got it and nothing happened until before I got it. The timing btw was too far retarded.

Thanks.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 84 evinrude 35hp timing

Yep, looks of people fiddle and dont think about or know about what it does to timing. So long as they arent running anything around on the water thats too heavy they may never suspect a thing

 

[EZSteury]

Re: 84 evinrude 35hp timing

I thought maybe I put something back the wrong way. Today I put a rebuild kit on the carburetor, I've had some issues with hard starting and it is not the spark. Thanks.