what does the timing mark look like?
 

Im trying to do my timing i'm pretty sure its off. I checked my plugs and they were fouling out so bad there was oil all over some of them, and one of them didnt even have a gap anmymore it was so bad. I cleaned them off, and it made a big difference, I tried to adjust it a little, and i thought i found the mark, but now everytime i turn it on or push the gas hard or from a stop it spits out a white cloud. i already checked for a cracked head, no white in my oil, and it seems to be running alot better, but i can feel it losing power again..guessing the plugs are already getting dirty. So can anyone show me a picture or explain what the actual timing MARK looks like? the one you have to put the white paint on for the light? i know how to do the rest. thanks guys

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

It's a groove all the way across the rim of the balancer.

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8609/timingu.th.jpg

in the picture you see the timing tab, when you put your car into limp mode and have your timing light connected you should see the timing mark on the balancer lit by the timing light as you aim it down there, you then turn the distributor a smidge at a time...

http://image.highperformancepontiac....c_balancer.jpg
Picture from www.highperformancepontiac.com

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

Ok thanks guys that really helped i found the correct timing mark i was off by about 4 inches :\ but now i have another problem...i cant get it to line up with my tdc, no matter how i turn it, the line is always jumpy, it jumps from one to another back to another. it wont stay on the right one....is it supposed to do that? i thought it would align with the tdc and stay with it as long as it was idle?

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

You did put the car into limp mode? meaning your car was idling, pulled a plug and the idle dropped like an anvil...? 4 inches sounds like you did not prep the timing task... :D :huh:

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

lol, wow. i guess i didn't know as much about this as i thought. I cant read my veci label because it got oil or something all over it, but all i did so far, was mark the timing notch, hook up the timing light to the number 1 plug, turn it on and let it idle, and shine the light at the mark. is there more i have to do than turn the distributer? i have read that i might have to unplug something, but i dont know what. i tried unplugging that single wire, but i havent tried any vacuum lines. all i know is that no matter how i turn it, either way slow or fast the mark doesnt stay in one place. its jumping all over the place

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

The timing is hunting because it is under control of the EST module. You need to disconnect the four-wire flat connector from the distributor (assuming this is on your '83) then set the base timing.

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

ok, thanks im gonna go try that

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

ok..theres only 1 4 wired flat plug right? it comes from the bottom right side and goes down from the distributor? i unplugged it and its still jumping around, yeah its on my 83 z28. maybe I unplugged the wrong wire? :\ this probably shouldnt be as complicated as im making it lol

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

https://www.thirdgen.org/settingtiming

on this 82, do you have a check engine light? is it computer controlled... don't remember what year the ECM came in...

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

unfortunatly, my check engine light is always on it wont turn off. i accidently started the engine with one of those key readers in it because i forgot to take it out. wont flash codes or turn off ever since then. even tried unplugging the battery for a while.

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

how long ago was this? did you notice your car idled barely above stalling... ?

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

this was quite a while ago..almost a year maybe? i cant even remember why i was reading the codes, or what the code i got was at the time. its had different problems on and off idleing between my choke being messed up, flooding,timing....right now it idles ok, better than before i messed with the timing

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

could it be doing this if my timing chain was no good? how can you tell if your timing chain goes bad. i just cant figure out why the mark wont hold still :( what should my rpms be idleing at anyways?

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

for anyone who is still paying attention to this, i figured out my problem...partly my fault. so for future reference if this comes up again, turns out my timing light had 2 settings, i didn't know about. one was constant light, the other is advance timing. the constant light wasnt even constant it flashed, that's what i was using. i switched it to advance timing, and it found the mark just fine...now all i gotta go is figure out the right way of setting it :P but that's for another post. thanks for all the help, sorry guys.

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

lol... and yeah a bad timing chain can cause havoc... I replaced mine twice because of extensive play, when I rebuilt my engine I used a double roller chain... the first time I changed it, my car would keep trying to idle after shutting the engine off, timing was set to specs, but car ran like a dog... second time, the timing couldn't get set correctly, the first time the chain was OEM, the second time, the chain was OE specific replacement, the 3rd time it was an aftermarket double roller, I was considering a gear set, but I read I would end up with a loud whine at WOT...

the way to diagnose a bad chain, I think you pull off the belts, then take the distributor cover off, take out all of the spark plugs and rotate the crank and visually "like a hawk" observe the distributor rotor for immediate movement or delay in movement as you manually crank the crankshaft... again I am not sure, but I think that's what I read... :D

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

BTW, which timing light do you have?

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

Its an actron digital timing light, 100 bucks from autozone

Re: what does the timing mark look like?
 

Sorry to bring this one back to life, but I'm another noob when it comes to this. I was just hoping someone could clarify this for me. Thanks for the pic KNBlazer, that's exactly what my timing tab looks like. Reading this from the article on the site:

If you still can't read what's on your timing mark: Assuming you are standing in front of your car, facing the engine, the "valley" of the biggest of the v-shaped notches should be zero degrees.

The Vs are upside down when you look at them from the front of the car.

The next peak (pointing towards you) to the left of the big V is 4* advanced, one more peak to the left is 6* and so on in 2* increments.

Accordingly, the one and only peak to the right of the big V is 2* retarded.


If I understand that correctly, that corresponds to this, right?

Attachment 405948

So the large VALLEY is 0*, yes?

Thanks in advance!