As the car idles at 500rpm (which is in drive -I've read this somewhere before) -does the car need to be engaged into drive in order to check the timing, or is timing not affected by whether the car is in neutral or drive (as in neutral it idles at roughly 650)

thanks
Andrew

 

Neutral

 

Checking the timing in drive helps to ensure your not "on the curve" and are getting a true base reading.
If the advance curve does not start until a higher rpm,
then checking it in neutral will work.

Just check it in drive to see if the timing moves.

Checking it in drive is good practice when setting up a motor
with a reletively high idle (big cam) and a fast ignition curve.

It's also good to check it at a high rpm (4000+) to see if it is advanceing right.

 

thanks guys -I'll try it in everything including reverse! (just joking!) but I'll try a few different variations (but I think i'll need an assistant for this one to avoid crashing through the garage wall!

Andrew