So far so good...!

I readjusted the timing pump today - if you look back at post 16 you will see how far I first adjusted it. This morning I moved it back to right in between these two marks and the car runs better - no pinging and knocking, and no smoking.

Thanks for all the advice and helpful suggestions. I have come to the conclusion that worrying too much about factory specs and procedures can, at times, be detrimental to the process of getting a 30 year-old car with more than a quarter-million miles on it running well. I would always start from those numbers, etc., but one has to do some trial-and-error testing along the way. Plus, the process of measuring is fraught with error - the best we (home mechanic) can do is average and approximate, although I would argue that even with the best tools, measurement is "close" at best.

ryan

__________________
RG Newell

1984 300D
1972 250
1986 560SL
1991 300CE