Well the motor will start to die around 3-7* advance, but when advanced all the way to 60-65* it will run fine, no audiable knock, just a high Idle... Strange... I figured it would want to throw stuff at me. Checked the little timing mark on the balancer, it seems right, and since i know motors hate to run below 5* that makes sense its correct. My timing light only goes to 65*, i could probably get more timing out of it if my light went that high. Weird crap...

Also, im installed a blower soon... 6-7 PSI of boost.
Where should i put my initial timing? there is no computer.
10* sound good? Since knock begins before you can hear it, i know not to go crazy with the timing. wherever i set it, it has mechanical advance which adds 15* to the total @ 3500 RPMS.
So if my initial is 10* my final will be 25* after 3500 RPMS.
Does that sound reasonable for 6-7 PSI of boost... its a roots blower on a 750 blower carb.
and what about that weird 60* crap???

 

I'm getting the same thing.. I checked the timing on my firebird and it was at 55*. I just put the dist. back in the intake after I ported the heads and intake and didn't check the timing cause it ran fine. I guess I didn't mark the dist, quite right.. Anyhow, now that I set the timing back to 6* BTC, it runs like crud.. So what's the deal? Anyone have an idea? I wouldn't pass emissions at 55*s either.. I'm sure it won't now.. doesn't even idle properly..

 

ok i ripped it apart in peices cuz i was sick of it all. Im changing everything except the bottom end, and THIS TIME i would like to know BEFORE i put it all back together, What my timing should be set at initially with a blower! Read the first post just answer that question it will help me ALOT. initial + full open please. and what PSI per advance.. etc...

 

You initial timing should be set to the sticker on the hood. It should say something like 6* BTC. That's what you should set it to. The computer should take care of everything else. Of course right now my timing is set at 33* advanced and runs pretty well but I'm not sure why.. I'm still looking into it..

 

ok guys heres the deal theres a wire up by ur ac box and it goes to the dist i think its brown with a white stripe u got to unplug that wire to set the timing right i just did mine and set it to 7*and it ran like a terd i unpluged the wire and set it to 7 and it ran like a champ it adds like 30* to ur timing its just one wire and it runs into ur computer simple unplug it above the a/c box or whatever it is called and u set it then plug it bakc in and ur set i hope i helped oh yeah i dont know if this is on all fuel injected motors bbut i know it is on the tpis have a good one and take it easy

 

As far as I understand my engine you don't do that.. you start the car and jumper the aldl then the timing advance isn't in play. Once you've done that you set the timing. I'll try unplugging the wire but as far as I understand jumpering the aldl does the same thing..

 

Omfg I DONT HAVE A COMPUTER !!!!!!

 

theres other people on here with the same prob with a computer so calm down it will be ok

 

then you freakin' remove the vacuum line from your distributor and do the same thing.. That'd be the most logical conclusion I can come up with.. don't you think?

 

yeah if you do have the vacuum adv,have to unplug that first,
if thats not your prob. - it is very common for a stock GM balancer
to spin on it inner hub,especially if your car is responsive there for
moving the timing mark. if thats not the problem a car that runs really,really rich seems to love alot of timing but not that much.

 

the cars I see that have this problem usually have the dist installed 1 drive gear tooth off or a couple of degrees out, I have done wrong it so many times and my only recourse was a "re-stab" of the dist with #1 at TDC on the compression not the exh stroke (turn it over no plug in #1 with finger over hole and stop it on the "PPPFFFFFtttt!" and line up the timing mark) then line up the rotor with the #1 wire (hard to get the oil pump to line up sometimes when you find just the right stab). I'm not trying to rag on anyone and its not easy to explain why the timing light gives you a 50* to 60* reading to get it started it just does. this is just my every day solution to a problem I made for myself in the past if it helps then good.

 

it does not matter if he installed the dist. a tooth out or not the timing light is still reading the set timing no matter of where the teeth are unless of course he is not using # 1 plug wire than
that is where the problem would lye ,but i hope is not the case.

 

I figured someone would misunderstand my remark about why the timing light reads 50* or 60* and the fact that I cannot explain it, but I figured it would take longer than 8 minutes for someone to decide that it would be easier to try to make me argue with them than it is to just do what I suggested and atleast try to fix the problem. sure I wont dispute the remark that a timing light reads true if you use the right plug but it doesnt change the fact that my fix usually works to fix the problem.

 

I Do NOT have vaccume advance either. I dont have a computer. Mechanical advance only. The car runs Great at 22* at idle, and 36* full open. No problem there. But why does it run at 60* thats the original question. The distributor is installed correctly, I lined up the timing marks on the chain for TDC, made sure the harmonic balancer was in the right position, and put the distributor in lined rotor up with plug wire #1 and it was all set and ready to go. No problem there. and B4C your method is perfect Ive used it alot latelly before i ripped the car apart... im glad somone else knows how to find TDC piston one. -

And it ran great till i ripped it apart.
Now, when a car is set to 60* ACTUAL ADVANCE AT IDLE and does not DETONATE is this POSSIBLE? i guess thats what im trying to ask. remember, no vaccume advance, no computer. 10:1 Compression.

 

ohh well i guess i may have misunderstod the problem,or not a problem at all - and hope im not misunderstanding again.
you will not hear an audible knock at idle the car would stop running first but for alot of street cars you will have lots of timing
at low rpm/ low load driving (hence a vacuum advance) under light load it will advance timing to as high as 40 -50 degrees total under light load for economy reasons, so at idle or light load
yor car would run just fine like that .

as a reply to b4c i was not trying to argue and am really sorry if you took it that way ,i wondered that when i posted it if you would take it that way .i was just trying to help someone not go through alot of trouble.

 

during a bench race session of car builders and racers I posed this question in the form of a pop quiz, "when you try to start a car and the thing will not run without a bunch of advance and the timing light reads like 50*-60*, what is generally the problem?" I got a resounding answer of, " a dist that is 'stabbed' 180* out." when I posed the question of the timing light reading and why it reads that way I got everything from a, "it just does..." to a, "when the earth's orbit..." ps: no prob 87_ta, its cool

 

Hey Guys,
Thanks to you all for helping me out with my timing issue.. Today I finally bit the bullet and pulled the valve cover to make sure I was on the compression stroke of cyl. #1 and I set the dist to the correct timing.. I'm running at 6* advance like the factory sticker says.. Runs like a champ. Now I gotta get a time slip or a dyno printout.. Thanks again to all of you, especially B4Ctom1.

 

Dammit that is kinda what mine is doin right now... I'm so tired of checkin and recheckin that dist tho. It actually idles fine at correct timing. With no load it even revs fine. But if its gonna have a load, it gonna need 30 degrees. My question, is it possible that the additional 45 ci between the 305 and 350 might be enough to the lean the motor out so much as to need more advance to prvent detonation under load? Additionally, i just read the 305/350 knock sensors are different, so thats gettin swapped if i find taht to be accurate at the parts house.

 

BLAST from the PAST!!

 

Geez, tell me about it. I haven't even touched my Firebird in 2 years. Poor thing. Got mothballed when I bought a house and then my house caught fire and got exposed to the heat. Melted all the plastic parts on the front clip, cracked my dashpad and windhield. Still runs though. The city just sent me a letter about "inoperable vehicles with expired registration." Looks like I gotta go spend the $50 to get it registered and drive it to the other side of the driveway. =o)