How to set the ignition on a VAZ 2109 carburetor

System design

Before we begin to consider the adjustment process, we consider it necessary to understand the diagram and principle of operation of the system. Vehicles of the VAZ 2109 model range are equipped with a non-contact ignition system. The connection diagram of all elements is as follows:

The operating principle of the system is not complicated. In order for a spark to begin to be produced, the motor shaft must turn. Simultaneously with its rotation, the camshaft will also turn. As a result of this, the sensor generates a signal that will be sent to the switch. The “K” terminal of the coil will connect to the common wire (to “ground”), as a result of which a spark will occur on the main wire. At the moment when the working distributor slider connects the main wire with one or another high-voltage wire on the corresponding spark plug, a spark will appear and the car engine will start.

If the setting is made incorrectly, the candles work in the wrong time modes. Consequently, such a violation becomes the cause of unstable operation of the entire power unit.

Preparatory activities and necessary tools

Installing the ignition of a VAZ 2109 carburetor begins with preparatory activities. In particular, you need:

Warm up the car engine;
Set the parking brake and install wheel chocks under the rear wheels.

Remember that you cannot ignore safety rules, because a car is a highly dangerous vehicle, and failure to comply with safety rules when driving, servicing and repairing it can cost you dearly.

An important point: before you start work, you should make sure that the carburetor is correctly configured on the car. It would not be superfluous to carry out a visual inspection of all elements of the system. If we are talking about a carburetor car, special attention should be paid to inspecting the condition of the distributor.

If you have a car with an injection engine, it is worth checking the ignition module for serviceability. The thing is that, as practice shows, it is this module that fails most often and is the reason for the inoperability of the entire system.

To complete the work we need:

strobe;
a set of keys.

Do-it-yourself methods for adjusting the ignition on a VAZ-2109 (for carburetor engines)

Ignition problems are increasingly appearing in older versions of cars equipped with a carburetor engine.

If you have just such a VAZ-2109, then work on adjusting the torque requires the following equipment and tools:

strobe (not necessary, but its presence will allow you to more accurately set the desired angle);
tachometer. As a rule, such a device is part of a car tester, so there will be no problems with the search;
screwdriver (for making adjustments);
key to “ten” (you can use the open-end or ring version).

As practice shows, when setting the moment you can do without a strobe.

How to correctly set the ignition on a VAZ 2109 carburetor - detailed instructions

The setup process is as follows:

1. Start the car engine and ensure that the engine speed is approximately 800 rpm. To set the idle speed within such limits, it is enough to use a slotted screwdriver to adjust the screw responsible for the amount of fuel mixture in the carburetor.

2. After setting the idle speed to the above value, turn off the car engine.

3. Disconnect the rubber hose from the vacuum corrector. Carefully bend the hose approximately in the middle or plug it with a screw of a suitable diameter.

4. Connect the positive terminal of the strobe to the “+” terminal of the battery;

5. Connect the negative wire of the strobe to the “-” terminal of the battery;

6. Disconnect the spark plug wire from the socket of the first cylinder as shown in the image:

Disconnect the spark plug wire

7. Install the strobe sensor into the socket and connect the high-voltage wire to it;

8. Remove the plug from the clutch housing hatch:

Removing the stub

9. Turn on the ignition and start the engine. We direct the actively changing luminous flux generated by the strobe into the clutch housing hatch:

We direct the strobe into the clutch housing hatch

10. When the light is flashing, it seems that the mark located on the flywheel is stationary. If the ignition is installed correctly, the first mark should be between the technological notch and the previous mark on the scale.

Setting the ignition timing (ignition timing) on cars 2108, 2109, 21099

Setting the ignition timing is one of the main settings of a car engine.
Incorrectly set ignition (both in the direction of increasing the advance angle and in the direction of decreasing) immediately affects its operation for the worse. Therefore, you should pay special attention to this procedure, especially on front-wheel drive VAZ 2108, 2109, 21099 vehicles. Overheating, detonation, shots into the muffler or carburetor is not a complete list of such malfunctions.

It should be borne in mind that similar symptoms occur with an incorrectly adjusted or faulty carburetor, faulty valve mechanism, etc.

Purpose of setting ignition timing

Set the required ignition timing at which the main characteristics of the car engine - power, throttle response, idle speed, fuel consumption - will be normal.

Tools for work

— Stroboscope (the simplest one, without a built-in tachometer, can be bought in a store for 200-300 rubles). A more advanced one, with a built-in tachometer, costs a little more.

— Tachometer (you can use the one built into the instrument panel, you can connect an external one (for example, an auto tester, a multimeter in tachometer mode), you can use your ear, if you have experience).

strobe and autotester

— Socket wrench or open-end wrench. Either a matching ratchet socket or an L-shaped wrench. Size 10.

Preparatory work

— We warm up the car engine to operating temperature (85-90 0).

— Set the minimum idle speed (750-800 rpm).

To do this, turn the “amount” screw of the fuel mixture on the carburetor. You can set the minimum speed using the tachometer or by ear. If they correspond to the norm, then we skip this point.

location of the adjusting screw for the “amount” of the fuel mixture on the carburetor 2108, 21081, 21083 Solex

— We remove from the fitting on the housing of the vacuum ignition timing regulator , on the distributor, the silicone vacuum supply tube coming from the carburetor.

— We check by placing a finger on its hole to see if there is a vacuum in it. It shouldn’t be there, since in theory it should start working at speeds above 800. If it is, slightly reduce the idle speed (by rotating the “amount” screw of the fuel mixture on the carburetor) until it disappears.

— We turn off the engine.

— We plug the hole in the silicone tube with a small bolt or simply bend it in half (tie it in a knot).

— Using a 10mm wrench, loosen the three nuts securing the distributor housing.

— We are looking for a hatch on the gearbox housing with a scale and a visible part of the flywheel. It is usually closed with a rubber stopper. We remove the plug.

location of the inspection hatch in the clutch housing on VAZ 2108, 2109, 21099 cars

— We wipe the scale in the hatch with a rag so that the installation marks are clearly visible on it.

— Use a slotted screwdriver to turn the flywheel by the splines of its crown and find a long transverse alignment mark on it. When it stands opposite the triangular cutout on the scale in the hatch, it means that the ignition timing is 0 0, and the pistons of the first and fourth cylinders have risen to top dead center. If it is poorly visible due to oiling or contamination, we wipe the edge of the flywheel through the hatch until we find it. You can highlight the mark with chalk.

mark for setting the ignition timing on the flywheel and a scale with degrees

— We check whether this is a risk (suddenly your flywheel is installed incorrectly). We check using the following marks - the long mark on the flywheel should be opposite the triangular cutout on the scale, the mark on the camshaft pulley should be opposite the protrusion on the rear timing belt cover (to see them, remove the plastic timing belt cover).

— Connect the strobe light. We carry out the connection according to the instructions for your strobe, since their models are different and the methods of connecting them may differ in detail. Basically, connecting a strobe looks like this - a red wire to the “K” (+) terminal of the ignition coil, a black wire to the “minus” of the battery, or any part of the housing, a metal clamp to the high-voltage wire of the fourth cylinder (closest to the distributor).

procedure for connecting a strobe

Setting the ignition timing (ignition timing)

— We start the engine, once again check with the tachometer that the idle speed is minimal.

— We direct the flashing beam of the strobe into the hatch with the scale.

— In the light of the strobe beam, the long, highlighted mark on the flywheel should be opposite the desired division on the scale.

Each division on it corresponds to one degree of ignition timing.

The bottom of her middle triangular cutout is zero degrees.

Angles for 92nd gasoline

On engine 2108, ignition timing (-1 0; +-1 0), 21081 (1 0; +-1 0), 21083 (1 0; +-1 0).

Angles for 95 gasoline

For engine 2108, the advance will be 1 degree - one mark on the scale towards the windshield from the bottom of the triangular cutout in its center, 21081 - 5 degrees (5 divisions), 21083 - 4 degrees (divisions). An error of one degree is permissible both in the direction of decreasing the angle and increasing it.

— We adjust the ignition timing by rotating the ignition distributor housing (distributor).

By rotating clockwise (as viewed from the distributor cover), the advance angle increases (ignition becomes earlier), counterclockwise, the advance angle decreases (ignition becomes later). You can navigate by the scale with divisions and “+” and “-” signs on the distributor body. By rotating the distributor, we move it relative to the protrusion on the body of the auxiliary units. Towards the minus side - we do the ignition earlier, to the positive side, later. One division of this scale is equal to 8 0. Therefore, we turn the distributor slowly, carefully and at a small angle.

adjusting the ignition timing using a distributor

— Having achieved the desired ignition timing, turn off the engine, disconnect the strobe light, and secure the distributor.

Checking the correct ignition timing

— When you press the gas pedal, on a warm engine, at idle speed, there should be no “failures” in operation.

— When you sharply press the gas pedal, when driving at a speed of 45-50 km/h, on a flat section of the road, in fourth gear, a short-term detonation should be felt (3-5 seconds). “Tap of fingers” in other words. If it is not present, the ignition is late; if it is present and does not go away, the ignition is too early. We correct the situation by slightly rotating the distributor in one direction or another. Then we check again.

Incandescent lamp instead of strobe light

Many car owners will ask a completely fair question: how to adjust the ignition of a VAZ 2109 in the absence of a strobe light. Of course, it is more correct to work with a strobe, especially since in this case it is possible to carry out adjustment and adjustment work as accurately as possible. However, there is another method that is useful for those who, for one reason or another, do not want to purchase a strobe.

To work, we need an ordinary incandescent lamp designed for an operating voltage of 12V. The entire algorithm of actions is as follows:

Disconnect the wire from the distributor that goes to the ignition coil
We connect one terminal of an incandescent light bulb to the wire. We connect the second wire from the lamp to ground.
As in the case when setting the ignition of a VAZ 2109 using a strobe light, use a spanner to loosen the distributor fastening nuts.
Turn on the ignition. The incandescent lamp should light up.
Gradually turn the distributor until the lamp stops glowing. After this, turn the distributor slightly in the other direction. As soon as the lamp starts to glow again, you can tighten the fastening nuts.

Of course, the method described above cannot provide the highest possible adjustment accuracy. However, with its help it is quite possible to achieve more or less correct and stable operation of the power unit.

How to adjust the ignition on a VAZ 2109 - an alternative method

In addition to the adjustment methods described above using a strobe and a light bulb, you should remember one more method - adjustment using a standard tachometer. We emphasize that this method, like the method using a light bulb, cannot provide high accuracy of adjustment. Moreover, it is characterized by one significant drawback - it is impossible to carry out the adjustment yourself; you will need to hire an assistant. So:

Your assistant is located behind the wheel of the car. He turns on the ignition and monitors the readings of the standard tachometer on the instrument panel.
You loosen the nuts securing the distributor and turn it a little.
Your assistant turns the ignition key. The tachometer needle should quickly deflect and return to zero.
You need to ensure that the distributor remains in a position in which the tachometer needle deflects.

You may notice that this method requires patience and quite a lot of time. As practice shows, it is not possible to adjust the ignition quickly and the first time using this method . Therefore, we recommend using it only in extreme cases.

How to set the ignition timing on a VAZ 2109 without a strobe

Hello everyone,
I was wondering how to set the OZ without a strobe?

The specialists I go to simply turn the distributor and listen carefully to something, go to the jammer and listen to something there too

As a result, the car drives very well.

I need it like a clock

The specialists I go to simply turn the distributor and listen carefully to something, go to the jammer and listen to something there too

As a result, the car drives very well.

That's exactly what you can't do. That's why they are specialists (practice)

So put the OZ on your eye later and enjoy life, only then don’t create the topic “the car doesn’t drive, doesn’t pull at full speed and gets hot” Cool

Damn, but people install without a strobe and the car pulls, doesn’t heat up and works like a clock

I understand that they have practice and all that, but I don’t think it’s that difficult to learn.

You do this, set the angle in advance until, when you sharply press the gas in 4th gear at 60 mph, you hear a short knock of the “fingers”.

but I don’t think it’s that difficult to learn.

You try it by ear, try it, ride it, if it’s not right, try again, when you get tired of everything, go to the master

I had a strobe light installed this weekend. The ignition turned out to be a little late. We adjusted it, now it drives worse at lower levels, wakes up at 2800 rpm, but the idle speed has become more stable, it doesn’t fart, there is no detonation after I turn it off.

As I understand it, the advance angle will be 3 degrees.

put the car on level ground, turn on 5th gear, open the hood. remove the rubber plug under the distributor. pull the car towards you until the mark on the flywheel aligns with the mark on the scale, not reaching the middle mark by 3 divisions. You turn out the 1st or 4th spark plug (depending on what position the camshaft is in). put the explosive wire on the spark plug, place it on the head cover with a mask. loosen the 3 nuts securing the distributor (minimally so that it rotates), turn the ignition key so that the warning lights come on. Turn the distributor clockwise until a spark jumps to the spark plugs, and tighten the distributor nuts. It is somewhat doubtful to check by knocking fingers, because not all engines can cause this sound

This is a method for a contact system. It won't work for a chisel.

REBU wrote: This is a method for a contact system. It won't work for a chisel.

How to set the ignition on a VAZ 2109 injector

Above we described the process of adjusting carburetor engines. However, there are VAZ modifications equipped with injection power units. How to set the ignition on a VAZ 2109 with such an engine?

First of all, you should pay attention that in the case of injection engines, they do not have a distributor and a Hall sensor. At the same time, the system provides two ignition coils at once, and, accordingly, two switches. The main difference between the injection system and the classic one is that the control signals are generated by a special electronic unit. The operating principle is as follows:

Operating principle of the injection system

Thus, there is simply no need for a distributor, because it is the electronic control unit that determines in which cylinder and at what point in time there should be a spark. Signals from the control unit are supplied to the inputs of the switches, and from them to the ignition coils. One switch is responsible for sparking in the first and third cylinders, and the second - in the second and fourth.

As in the case of engines with a carburetor fuel system, adjustment is carried out according to special technological risks. The ignition marks of the VAZ 2109 injector are shown in the photo below:

Ignition marks VAZ 2109 injector

Please note that it is not possible to configure the injection engine system yourself. The thing is that this operation involves making changes to the software of the microcontroller of the electronic control unit. Of course, each specific microcontroller has its own specific firmware. Moreover, there are also non-standard firmwares, for example, with settings for a sporty driving style.

Only an experienced specialist with certain knowledge can flash an electronic control unit. Therefore, if malfunctions occur in the ignition system of an injection engine, you should seek help from a trusted car service center.

How to set the ignition timing using a light bulb

If you do not have a strobe light and do not intend to buy it, then after reading the manual on how to set the ignition on a VAZ-2109 (carburetor) using a light bulb, you will be able to make the necessary adjustments without using it. The algorithm of actions for this method is as follows:

First you need to align the marks on the crankshaft pulley and on the timing cover. This can be done by turning the crankshaft. To do this, use a special key. If such a key is missing, you can engage fourth gear and push the car until the marks coincide.
Next, disconnect the wire that goes to the ignition coil from the breaker and connect it to the wire of the 12-volt light bulb. The second wire of the light bulb must be connected to ground (car body).
As in the case of using a strobe light, loosen the distributor mounting nuts.

The distributor itself is secured with three nuts
Turn on the ignition (the light should be on) and slowly turn the body of the switch-distributor until the light goes out. As soon as this happens, start turning in the opposite direction and the moment the light comes on, you can tighten the fastenings of the breaker-distributor.

At this point, the ignition installation is considered complete, and if you did everything correctly, the advance angle set in this way will ensure efficient operation of the engine.

Verifying that the settings are correct

After we have dealt with the question of how to install the ignition on a VAZ 2109, we will consider the process of checking whether the adjustment work has been carried out correctly.

So, if configured correctly:

during the process of rapid acceleration of the power plant (when the car is warm), there is no violation of the stability of its operation;
When the car is moving at a speed of about 50 km/h in fourth speed and during sharp acceleration, there should be a short detonation of the engine. If there is no detonation, ignition is later; if it is present, but does not go through, it is earlier. We make the adjustment by turning the distributor in one direction or another.

Remember that it is often impossible to achieve stable operation of the power unit due to improper operation of the fuel system or even due to low quality gasoline. In this kind of situation, the best way out of it would be to set the carburetor to the most optimal operating mode and then adjust the ignition timing.

Very often, these ignition system malfunctions are caused by a trivial reason - an incorrectly set ignition.