Hi I have had the belts loose/off to change the turbo coolant hoses. I know I have moved the crankshaft with the engine off / independently of other pulleys perhaps. My only symptom is a bit off backfire and a glowing turbo manifold at idle but not once some air gets moving past it. I have changed leads, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, checked vaccum hoses. I am boosting normally and can't really tell there is a problem. But in regards to timing how so you set it on a stock fd? Can I just move the crank to a marker with the engine off and set it? With a timing light how many degrees should I see etc? If it is out do I just turn the crank with the engine off x amount of degrees clockwise / anti clockwise till my timing light shows the correct number. Sorry I have searched but I've only ever set timing using a distributor before. Appreciate advice.

 

Timing isn't adjustable.

 

How does one fix retarded timing in that case?

 

On a Carb'd rotary, you have a distributor. On an FC you have a "drop in" crank angle sensor with a gear drive to replace a distributor. This is because the FC was sold with a distributor in some markets, so it had to accomodate one.

The FD is closer to a modern design. It has a wheel on the crank pulley and 2 sensors which produce a signal as the slots in the wheel pass by. It's not adjustable. The timing mark on the pulley is only for the trailing, so it's at 20 degrees ATDC/-20BTDC.

Backfire/popping can happen if any of the stock emissions equipment are not working in the way they were intended to when the engine is brand new. If the idle speed control valve, air pump/ACV, cat, whatever are not stock-like then it's possible you will have an issue. There's also some basic sensor stuff like making sure your TPS is not misadjusted. Even then the FD has a lot less sensor problems than the earlier rotaries.