On the timing marks it has before and after I'm not sure if before is retared and after is advanced ??? am I right

 

No. It is really the other way round! It all depends on where it was before!
If the timing was 7 degrees BTDC (before top dead centre) before and you want the timing retarded (i.e to spark LATER), the timing marks must line up at 6 or 5 or 4 etc BTDC. So you go to the right, effectively!
If you want to advance the timing (i.e. spark SOONER), it would line up at 8 or 9 or 10 degrees BTDC.

Hope this helps!!

Andy.

 

Is there a simple writeup somewhere on how to adjust timing? Can I adjust it in 2 degree increments without a timing light?

 

I would also like to have a simple explanation of step by step, cuz we used to have a vw bug and if you've ever owned one you know you gotta time it at least once a week... hahaha but I got pretty good at that, but I'm not sure about this advance and retard stuff... i feel like a retard.... hahaha

thanks
Cody

 

I put the timing light on it and advanced it 4-5 degrees I was told you turn the distributer clockwise and it advanced it
Man you lost me i did this:lala: the whole time i was reading that
and you dont have to move the dist. very far to time it or 1/4" was 3-4degrees you could turn it ever so slightly and bumop it up a little but if you go to far have fun getting it back unless you mark the dist. do your self a favor and get a timing light I paid $30 for mine and I wish i would have bought it earlier

 

Good topic here!

I just did the new plugs, wires, cap and rotor thing on my 91.
And I had tons of fun/fustration timing the car.

I bought a inductive timing light with advance control. It has the dial in the back of it.

If you don't have a timing light I strongly suggest getting one!
I've never used a timing light and it was very cool for my first time using it.

One thing I did find out by searching through the archives is that the advance varies on our car depending on the year or set-up under the hood.

I set my timing to 5° advance and then drove the car. It pinged like a beast. Come to find out I have to have mine set at 0° and not advanced at all. Someone on here mentioned that 88 and earlier cars are set to 5° while 89 and later is set to 0°. Don't quote me on that though, I might be off on the exact year.

Now the ping is gone but I'm getting a bit of clicking in the RPM range where there was a ping.
I think I might have it too much retarded now. "Still working on that"

Clockwise/ counter clockwise.
When I turn the dist clockwise the timing retards and when I turn it counter clockwise it advances. Perhaps I'm not turning it clockwise enough and thus giving me my clicking problem. Can anyone elaborate on the clockwise thing?

 

You definitely _have_to use a timing light to adjust your timing correctly. You definitely CAN'T do this correctly just by turning your distributor and guessing.
If you just guess when you retard the timing so far that you can't hear any pings doesn't mean anything. Most of the time you won't be able to hear any pings but your knock sensor will.
The only way a timing adjustment does make sense is: Adjust it using a timing light and hook up a scanner/winaldl and check for knock counts under all driving conditions. If it does, retard it in 2* increments.

To adjust your timing:

Disconnect the tan wire with a black stripe that comes out of the harness near the heater box. It is a big connector, you can hardly overlook it. Connect your timing light to the battery (check polarity), connect the inductive pickup of the timing light to your #1 cylinder as near to the spark plug as possible without toasting it with your exhaust manifold/header.
Start your engine and ignore the SES light coming up.
Point your light at the timing mark and check your setting. Watch the timing light's wires. If they come in contact with the drive belt/accessories while the engine is running you could get seeriously injured.
If you can't read your timing mark because of rust/dirt, stop your engine and clean it.
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.

O.K., now check for the sticker in your engine compartment for the correct setting and compare it to your reading. If it matches you are fine. If it does not or you want to advance/retard your timing for other reasons get a 9/16 or 14mm open end wrench.
Remove your air cleaner and approach your engine from the driver's side. Locate the distributor hold-down clamp and screw. Insert your wrench in the opening between the ignition coil and the distributor. Loosen the distributor hold-down clamp just so much, that you can turn your distributor by hand with little effort (Should be a 1/4 to 1/2 turn of the screw, maybe a little more).
There my be several other ways to loosen the distributor clamp but this one worked for me.
Now point your timing light at the timing mark again and rotate your distributor slighty.
Turning it counterclockwise advances the ignition, turning it clockwise retards it.
If you have your setting as desired, tighten the distributor hold-down clamp. Recheck your setting after that. When it is still fine, shut off your engine, reconnect the tan wire, disconnect your timing light and disconnect the negative battery cable for a few minutes. This will erase the error code that came up when you disconnected the tan wire.
Reinstall your air cleaner and reconnect your battery.
Test drive your car using a scanner or winaldl to check for pings/knocks.

I hope this is easy to understand and helps. If not, feel free to complain.

BTW sunbitz: Retarding the timing "too much" does _not cause knock/ping.

Later,

Andreas

 

Wow!

Thanks for the informative post there Andreas. Very much appreciated and thanks for taking the time to explain it for all of us.

I'm going to check it out again and see exactly where my timing is set at.

I finally got my Helms GM service manual for a 91 camaro and I looked through the timing section and found some info that may be useful for others as well.

Keep in mind this is for a 91 camaro, but I believe that these settings follow through all years depending more so on the engine type and not the year.

LHO Base Timing......10° BTDC @ 675RPM.

LO3 Base Timing .... 0° TDC @ 600RPM.

LB9, L98 Base timing... 6° BTDC @ 600 RPM.

Also keep in mind your results may vary depending on the octane you are using at the time.

 

There are alot of posts about this topic, so I will reply here. I looked at my timing today because I am having knock sen problems. It is brand new. Well 3 mon. I found the marks and I also painted the line with white paint to make it stand out. It is to the left of the marks. About 1/2" or so. I didn't have enough time to turn the dis, but I am thinking it is adv. Any help? By the way that is with the tan wire hooked up. I just found out how to stop the auto adv. I plan on disconnecting the wire this weekend and checking it out more. But I want to know if the placement is normal. I might have to buy a new O2 sensor. I think I am going with AC del. BOSCH has done something wrong with theres. I have a gague on the O2 and sometimes it will go blank!! Any help guys??