Weird problem with the IP timing

[mihkel]

It started out after I took the pump off and changed the main shaft seal. In the beginning I managed to somehow time the pump 180 degrees off, so it was running really bad and rough. After sorting that out I could not time the pump properly anymore. I have done it a few times before so I know the procedure and have not had any problems what so ever before.

The problem:

I aligned the marks on the pump case, the pump bracket and pump sprocket and then the one on the flywheel (I even checked if the flywheel mark was the right one, as there are two of them). I put the dial gauge in and rotated the engine backwards to find the lowest reading. To my amazement I had to rotate the engine backwards a bit too much. The dial stopped at about 5-6mm. Double-checked everything just to be sure, rotated the engine a few times but still the same. Tried approaching it in different ways but still the same. Out of frustration and as I was running out of time I set the pump just by ear.

Have driven it for a few months like that, mpg is great and no problems with power but cold start is a bit difficult. So today I decided to give it another try. Looked at the videos and read about the timing procedure. I did everything the same way but still no success. If I set it with the dial, then it is way off - it starts rough and smokes like hell I guess it is about 5-6mm on the gauge. I align the marks, put the dial in, rotate the engine backwards but the dial does not stop until 5 or 6mm. Have not seen this thing before.

Only thing that I could think about was the plunger being sticky. So I ran pure 2 stroke oil through the pump. Still no difference. And yet again I finished with timing it by ear.

Any ideas?