installation manual

123\2CV, 123\UNI & 123\EVO

old situation with points Installation Instructions

All ”123ignition\2CV” modules are designed for the

stock (black) 2CV-coil but are also compatible with high
current (brown) VISA coils.
Previous models of the 123\2CV would get damaged by
the VISA coil, so do not use a VISA coil with those!

STEP 1
Turn the ignition off. Remove the engine fan use a long
14 mm socket or similar to unscrew the bolt holding it,
once the bolt is removed, the fan comes loose by putting
a rod or the socket in it and tapping sideways with a
hammer whilst the other hand pulls the fan from the
engine. Once the fan is removed unscrew the 5 lower
new situation with 123\2CV screws (8 mm spanner) and lift the rubber shield to gain
access to the points box.

Disconnect the wire from the points box and also from
the coil. You do not have to remove this wire, it may be
useful sometime in the future.

STEP 2
Remove the points box along with the capacitor. Set
aside the two M7 bolts and square washers. Remove
the metal protector plate to gain access to the centrifugal
advance mechanism. With two very small screwdrivers
you can bend away and remove the small circlip ring
from the end of the camshaft so that you can remove the
new situation with 123\UNI thrust washer, the centrifugal weights and cam assembly.
Put these parts in a ZipLock bag and store in a safe
place.

STEP 3
Thoroughly clean the area, inspect the point where the
camshaft comes out of the block. If the cavity is moist
with an excessive amount of oil, you may have an engine
problem.

After cleaning everything, slide the two magnets onto the

5mm spindles at the end of the camshaft. Install the
123ignition module with the two M7 bolts and square
washers. Leave the bolts a little loose so that you can
new situation with 123\EVO still rotate the ignition unit in the housing. Align the
right side of the dimple at the bottom of the unit with
the vertical seam of the crankcase halves, see drawing.

STEP 4
Run the three wires, (yellow, black and red) along the
bottom of the fanshroud, and out through the rubber
grommet in the front. It is a good idea to put the wires
inside a protective sleeve (like a shrink tube without
shrinking it) to give extra protection to the wires’ insula-
tion. Tuck the wires securely under the metal tabs inside
the fan housing, and make sure they can not come into
contact with the fan!
Cut the wires so that there is easily reach the coil and
take into account that the engine moves.
Use the connectors supplied with the kit with a profes- vacuum-connection is by drilling a 4-mm hole, and cut-
sional crimping tool, try to borrow one if you do not ting M5-thread into the dual choke carburettor (see
have one. Make sure all your electrical connections are photo) because these are already prepared for a vacuum
absolutely secure, using a cheap crimping tool or ordi- nipple. The nipple is supplied with the 123\EVO.

STEP 5
nairy pliers can cause a bad connections and a major
problem in the future! Do not rush things, tidy up eve-
rything carefully. Use tie-wraps and take special care that Insert the 6 mm timing rod (or a 6 mm drill bit) through
the wires under no circumstances can touch the hot the hole in the crankcase. Screw the fanbolt into the
exhaust and balance pipe and that no sharp edges in the crankshaft, and with a wrench on the fanbolt turn the
long run can damage the wires insulation. The wires engine over slowly (removing the spark plugs makes this
may not be too close or tie-wrapped to the spark plug easy) until the rod slides into the hole in the flywheel. If
leads. there is a little play, because your rod is slightly smaller
Now pull the second wire off the coil (i.e. the wire that than 6 mm (a 5,5 mm drill is sometimes more conven-
connects the positive terminal on the battery, through ient) try to find the center of the play. Your engine is
the ignition key, to the positive terminal on the coil). now set on its static timing point, at 8 or 12 degrees
Connect this wire to the red wire coming from the 123 before TDC (Top Dead Center) depending on engine
ignition module. type.

DO NOT HOOK UP THE WIRES TO THE COIL YET! Clean one of the teeth of the flywheel, and a small area

123\EVO only:
opposite on the bellhousing. The area next to the starter
motor works well. Accurately paint a timing mark with
As the 123\EVO offers a vacuum- a bottle of whiteout (Tipp-Ex).

STEP 6
advance sensor, a thick-wall rub-
ber vacuum-hose may be connec-
ted to the inlet-manifold of the Turn the ignition on. Make sure the engine is set at its
engine. (might you not want to static timing point. Turn the ”123ignition\2CV” hous-
use this feature, simple leave the ing counter-clockwise until the LED goes out. Turn it
nipple on the 123\EVO open) clockwise VERY slowly until the LED just comes on
An easy way of making a again. Tighten the two M7 bolts.
REMOVE THE TIMING ROD OR DRILL BIT! switch with a small screwdriver.. If you can’t see the

STEP 7
switch position turn the switch clockwise and count the
clicks until you arrive at the required curve. The fact
Check your timing as follows: Put the wrench on the fan that, when the engine is running, the LED flashes in
bolt and turn the engine over (clockwise!) and slow MODE ”0” only, may come in handy if you’ve lost
down when the timing marks are approaching eachother. count.

STEP 9
The LED should light up at the exact moment when the
timing marks are aligned. If this is not the case, repeat
step 6. Re-install the rubber shield, take away the fan bolt, put

STEP 8
a litle grease on the crankshaft to prevent the fan from
sticking to the axle. Put the V-belt on the fanpulley and
Turn the ignition off. Connect the yellow wire to the the fan back on the axle without the bolt and turn the
positive terminal on the coil and the black wire to the fan around on the axle and double-check to make sure
negative terminal on the coil. Put the sparkplugs in. the fan does not touch the wires! If you have some loc-
If you own or can borrow a stroboscope timing light, tite you can put it on the thread of the fanbolt as extra
now is a good time to use it. Start the engine and see if security. Put in the fanbolt and tighten it firmly to 36
the painted marks align between 900-1100 rpm, if not lb/ft or 50 N/m.
adjust the123 until they do. If you do not have a strobo-
scope you can do this check as soon as you come to a Fire it up and enjoy!
workshop were there is one.

123\UNI or 123\EVO only:

Choose the right standard curve for your engine (see
table) and select it with the curve
selection switch. To access this
switch, you must first remove the
hexagonal plug with a 5mm Allen
key in the front of the 123ignition
unit. You can now carefully turn the
 123\UNI mode switch settings 123\EVO mode switch settings

mode engine plate engine-type static timing mode adv/rpm*) curve-type

0 timing mode, 20°/3100 rpm only for calibration 0 20°/3100 only for calibration,
1 A 9 hp, 375cc 12° temp. sensor inactive
2 AZ A53 12°
3 AM M4 12° 1 20°/3100 tuning with regular fuel
4 AYA A79/0 12° 2 22°/3100 tuning with regular fuel
5 AM2 M28 8° 3 24°/3100 tuning with regular fuel
6 AYA2 A79/1 12° 4 26°/3100 tuning with regular fuel
7 AK2 M28/1 8° 5 28°/3100 tuning with regular fuel
8 A06/635 M28/1 8°
9 A06/642 M28/1 8° 6 14°/3600 curve ‘A’ for 375cc, A53 & M4
A AM2A M28/1 8° 7 20°/3000 curve ‘B’ for A79/0 engine
B A06/664 M28/1 8° 8 25°/3000 curve ‘C’ for A79/1, M28 & M28/1
C - - - 9 23°/5000 VA1-curve for V06/630 (VISA/LNA)
D - - - A 20,5°/5200 VA4-curve for V06/644 (VISA/LNA)
E - - -
F ”LPG/E85”*) M28/1 8° static B 24°/3100 tuning with E85 / LPG
C 26°/3100 tuning with E85 / LPG
*) This mode is ment for M28/1-engines running on D 28°/3100 tuning with E85 / LPG
ultra high octane fuels like LPG or E85. E 30°/3100 tuning with E85 / LPG
E85 is a blend of 85% bio- F 32°/3100 tuning with E85 / LPG
ethanol and 15% gasoline. *) excl. max 12° vacuum advance
Its octane rating is 104
RON. You need a larger Static timing:
main jet or a ”123\FlexiJet” 8° for M28 & M28/1,
adjustable jet to run on E85 10° for VISA engines
(see photo). 12° for A53, M4, A79/0, A79/1
ADVANCED USE: FINAL WORDS
TUNING WITH THE 123\EVO.
Caution, this is for advanced users only, most people Coils
should stick to the standard curves. The standard curves Coils that have been overheated once when the car still
have the extra margins that Citroën used to prevent had points will never give a strong spark anymore, even
engine damage under extreme situations. If you are an if they still work they need to be replaced, get a new
expierenced 2cv mechanic and know what you are doing coil, another second hand coil can be just as bad.
you can use these margins and tune your car for max- Using a VISA-coil, results in much higher currents then
imum power and fuel efficiency. with the stock black coil. Check for power loss over the
ignition-key, and check (very important!!) the quality of
The procedure is as follows : the mass-cable from the gearbox to the battery.
a. Select curve 1, presumed you tune a car on regular
fuel. (For LPG/E85 you should start with curve ”B”) Spark plug leads
b. Drive it, until the engine is warm, and measure maxi- Spark plug leads have to be replaced once in a while
mum speed at full throttle. even if they still seem ok they often start to leak spark
c. Select curve 2 (or ”C”), and measure maximum speed energy, especially when they are wet. With the higher
at full throttle again. Listen for any evidence of knock- spark energy of a 123 it is even more important to have
ing. Release the throttle when you hear this because this fresh spark plug leads, now is a good time to replace
is the easiest way to ruin your engine. them! If you are uncertain if they still are ok you can
test their isolation by slowly pouring water over them, it
If the maximum speed increases and there is no sign of should not affect how the engine runs!
knocking, select the next curve. If the maximum speed
does not increase or any knocking occured, return to the Maintenance
previous curve. You can now congratulate yourself to have an ultramod-
Be aware, that using the quality of fuel can vary a great ern, maintenance free ignition system, which may seem
deal. Inferior fuel quality or higher ambient temperatu- to make your car almost totally maintenance free itself.
res than during the tuning process, may cause knocking. Of course this is not the case and it will still need its
Release the throttle when you hear this! Choose a lower plug-gaps checked every 5000 kms and new plugs every
curve setting as soon as possible. 10.000 kms. Also other regular maintenance, like oil
changes, valve clearance checking, cleaning the oil cooler then half a degree crankshaft
etc is still necessary to keep your car in good shape so wiring: red = +12V
don’t neglect that just because it otherwise has become yellow = ”+” coil
so much more reliable with the 123ignition! black = ”-” coil
engine-types:
Raids and Waterproofing ”123\2CV” A79/1 435cc
The 123 is not absolutely waterproof and getting water M28 & M28/1 602cc
into the system can irreversibly destroy it! Under nor-
mal circumstances this is never a problem but take care ”123\UNI” all standard ”2CV” -
when using high pressure cleaners (these can ruin the oil engines, selectable by
cooler as well) and when crossing deep water. It is possi- mode-switch
ble to make the unit more “Raid ready” with a silicone
sealant around the circuit boards edges on the rear of ”123\EVO” all standard and tuned
the unit, the LED in front and where the wires come out ”2CV” engines, selectable
of the unit. by mode-switch.

Technical data
Cold start advance and
overheat retard.
operating voltage: 4 – 18 Volt Vacuum advance sensor
range: 10 – 10000 rpm for reduced fuel consumption
temperature: -40° to 100° Celsius under medium loads.
coil: stock black 2CV-coil, brown
VISA coil or other coil with a
primairy resistance not lower
than 1 ohm
dwell: microprocessor controlled,
adjusting to coil current
and therefore independent of
battery voltage
spark-balance: software controlled, better
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