@Rupart 4° btdc isn’t much and certainly not over advanced. They’re usually tuned at 6° to 8° before top dead centre. I think you might have the retard and advance the wrong way around in your description.
I know this engine consumes oil and this brings down the effective RON rating of the fuel, even if it is slightly.
@Steptoe's photos I don’t see how my EA81 would punish me for not liking the EA82 much, the EA81 already knows it’s a superior engine…
Admittedly I am limping this EA81 along and I know that it won’t like this coming heat over summer. The next engine swap will be the EJ and it’s known this for a long time as it’s collected the various parts with me.
It was flawless in its two trips to Sydney, the first one being at the drop of a hat and the second one planned. It was on this second trip that I ran the octane booster to avoid pinging in the warmer inland temps on the way home. I think I’m on my second tank of fuel since then and now is when this issue arose.
To answer other questions - electronic ignition, new NGK spark plugs. Dizzy cap inspected and seems good, rotor button and tabs on dizzy cap had signs of corrosion. They’re cleaned up now and look good.
Carbon button in dizzy cap present and in good shape. Shaft play would be less than 1mm in any direction.
Can’t test drive today as it’s a great drinking arvo while tinkering away and I love having my licence… so I might drive her to work tomorrow (~80km round trip, what could go wrong?) to see if there’s any change with the build up on the dizzy tabs removed.
This still doesn’t explain why there’s no issue under load when the ignition system is under the most stress.
I’ll report back when I’ve got an update
Cheers
Bennie