I checked my ignition timing and i believe i have found a problem.
if you want to check yours, please tell me what you find so i can see if your results are the same as mine..
here's how i tested mine.
i pulled the pto side plug and found tdc by feeling the piston. then marked the clutch and the clutch cover.
then used a timing light to check timing.

the book says these things should be at 13 deg btdc @ 1200 rpms i dont have a spec for total timing but i believe it should be in the mid 30's

i'm seeing 0 deg at tdc and 27-29 deg total timing..
thanks..
m²

a closeup pic of the flywheel with the timing marks visilbe would be emmensly helpful too. thanks..

Not to be stupid but what is the pto side plug refer to?

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spark plug (the one on the front, clutch side, polaris calls it pto side)
they refer to this motor by pto side and stator side instead of left/right or 1/2

i pulled my motor and pulled the flywheel, i took some pictures


if anybody happens to have one out on the bench or have a motor opened up, please look and see if the arrow is supposed to be lined up with 0 on the fly wheel..
my arrow is about 11 degrees behind the 0

Your tigger wheel seems to be located correctly. The area with the missing tooth is at 0 which tells the computer the engine is a TDC.
Trying to check the timing without knowing the map in the computer would be like nailing jello to the wall. Spark advance is dependent on several inputs (engine rpm, throttle position, engine temp, air temp ber. pressure ect,) for the computer to deliver the spark.

i agree. i'm really only trouble shooting trying to figure out what the problem is.. (zero on the flywheel) on mine is actually dead center in the middle of the snaggletooth area of the encoder..
if one were to look at this flywheel and see the triangle (or arrow) and see that it wasnt lined up with the 0 timing mark, coupled with a good running machine that just doesnt seem to want to make power.. may lead to the same conclusion..

what led me to believe that basetiming may be off and that the position of this wheel could be suspect is that i found mechanical tdc with the motor installed and i marked my clutch. the book calls for 13 degrees btdc at 1200 rpms (idle) i'm not seeing that, i'm seeing 0 @1200, i'm also never seeing more than 28degrees of total advance

my request was for someone to verify that this wheel looks to be correct.. you are the second to verify this for me. i must assume that this ring is not the cause of my problem. the next (and last) item on my list, is a problem with the ecu and that's where i'm headed next.. thanks for your input

Two other things to take into consideration
1. You are checking the PTO cyl which is the #2 cyl. All of the engines I have been involved with the timing is based on the MAG or #1 cyl. Checking the wiring dia. the coils are on their on curcuit. They may have different timing maps.

2. You are only in the ball park of TDC unless you used a dial indicator and a degree wheel to find TDC.

the ignition on these is gangfired, both coils fire at the same time,
the fuel injectors are independant.
the pistons are mechanically tied together so it doesnt matter which side you look at.
i used a dial inicator to find tdc and degree'd off of that. as long as the engine is at top dead center i can put my marks wherever i want as long as one is on the clutch and one is stationary and they are in the same place.. no way i can be more than a degree or two off if any.. since i did the tdc trick twice, and came up with the same results, there's a pretty good chance i'm pretty close..

Marty I agree with you on the mechanical.(TDC and so forth) and the coils could be firing at the same time. The ignition coils are wired independant of each other and may have a seperate map, just like the injectors do. I do not know if this is the case with this unit, but I have seen a need for different timming curves in the past working with polaris and yamaha watercraft.

these coils have seperate signal wires but are a wasted spark engine, like a harley davidson

Is there any way to advance the ignition timing mechanically, or through a ECM remap?

Reason I ask, is I have a good running unit, but have heard that these things like a little more timing from an aftermarket ignition module. I don't need all the fancy curves, just a +2 or +3 deg bump to see if it runs better.

you can move the reluctor ring and that will advance ignition timing.. (it will also advance fuel timing but that isnt such a big deal)

Is it just a press off, press on kind of deal?

Is it worth doing - will I see any gains, or is a PCIII the way to go for an otherwise stock engine? (Except for donaldson air filter)

you do it with heat. i added 4 degrees to mine, didnt see any noticable gain then went back in there and took it back out.
the sportsman guys have been adding a little timing with the reluctor to reduce exhaust temp with (as i have heard) good results.
i have the ignition module now (with curves) and it works very well.