Timing/points adjustment question on K 341S

[GAJoe 844]

I watched the isavetractors YouTube on "More accurately setting the timing on a K series..." Where he shows how to look through the peep hole and see the S mark on the fly wheel and set the points to "just break" as the "S" mark on the fly wheel passes the reference mark seen in the peep hole. I had to shift the muffler exhaust to get a good view of the reference mark and the fly wheel markings with my Milwaukee flexible bore scope. I got the battery negative disconnected and connected my meter and jumper leads to the point wire terminal disconnected from the coil and ground. I rotated the PTO so that the flywheel was rotating clockwise when facing it several times to get the tone and hear it break; felt good with doing that. It took several attempts to get the break of the points to happen as the "S" mark passed the reference mark but I got it right on the money. Now what I noticed was that as the "T" mark (TDC) passed the reference mark my gap wasn't quite at the .020" that the manual specified and the gap got wider than that .020"as I continued to rotate with the flywheel. I did start it and it was running slowly with the choke on and increased RPM's to a nice idle as I opened the choke. I opened the throttle and it revved up nicely.

Should I be concerned or make adjustments to the gap. If I should adjust it to the .020" should it be when the TDC mark is lined up with the reference mark or when the gap reaches it's widest?

The motor doesn't appear to have been opened up by a previous owner.

[rmaynard 15,508]

 Don't worry about the T mark, only the S. Start with the points set at .020. Rotate the flywheel clockwise until the points break. If they don't break exactly on the S mark, adjust the points until you get the break exactly on the mark. When all is said and done your points may or may not be set to .020 when the engine it at TDC.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by rmaynard
Clarity

[GAJoe 844]

6 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

 Don't worry about the T mark, only the S. Start with the points set at .020. Rotate the flywheel clockwise until the points break. If they don't break exactly on the S mark, adjust the points until you get the break exactly on the mark. When all is said and done your points may or may not be set to .020. 

 

 

That's just what I did. Thanks for the reply!

My original Kohler Engine Owner's Manual just says to set a .020 when it's at it's widest but they probably wanted to keep it as simple as possible and not require a meter.

[953 nut 55,285]

Sounds like you dide the job right. If you have access to an automotive timing light you could also use it with the engine running.