Idle Advance 2056

[Owen Snell]

2056 cc with EMW C cam, 40 mm ITBs and MS2. Messing about with the ignition settings at idle and there's a huge difference between running a 'stock' advance at idle and getting the smoothest idle. I've run different options over decent miles now an keep coming back to 18 degrees advance to give a smooth and stable idle with nice pick up.

Is it common to run an idle advance so far from stock on a Type 4?

[Piledriver]

The "stock" idle advance (and advance curve in general) was not to make the engine happy, it was set as it was to reduce emissions and tended to result in cooked heads.

I run about 15, but have idle timing enabled for better idle stability.

[Owen Snell]

When I tried 10 degrees on a long run this week the temperature went up in traffic instead of down.

How does the idle function in MS2 work better than just setting the value in the ignition table?

[Piledriver]

When I tried 10 degrees on a long run this week the temperature went up in traffic instead of down.

How does the idle function in MS2 work better than just setting the value in the ignition table?

About what I have seen, low advance at idle can cook heads.

The idle timing feature separates the idle functions from the man table, you can have a bit more timing in the main table. Idle ve is also available. The effect of a timing bump as it comes off idle is sort of the opposite of the 009 flat spot, can also make it more stall proof.

The idle timing control function tweaks the timing to maintain idle speed, it works ~like a VDO idle stabilizer except you set the curves.

IIRC ms2 also has idle target table, I start kicking the idle speed up when she's hot as if sitting in traffic.
(haven't run MS2 in awhile other than doing some hardware testing, I can swap ECUs on the same harness, both setups use an MS3X)

Before I installed an IAC it and cold timing worked pretty well by themselves, and I still haven't bothered controlling the ac through the MS the idle control settings are sufficient.
(the alternator draw for 2 big AC condenser fans matters far more than the compressor cycling, at least with a modern compressor)