Base timing question

[1G9S9T7]

I am having a problem setting base timing. I have a 97 eclipse gs-t with a 6 bolt swap. I can't seem to locate the plug to ground out the timing nor can I find a clear answer on the location of this plug besides everyone saying it's behind the battery and if I don't ground it out, I can't see a consistent 5* while setting the base timing. I don't have dsmlink so I can't just ground it the easy way. Can anyone help me out on this? Pix and any tips would be appreciated too. I don't have the lower timing cover so I referred to a post from here about a method using the cam gears.

[NHerron]

I'm interested how everyone works around this too

I've read about the scan tool and whatnot but surely not everyone pays dealership prices for them to lock the ECU into "Actuator Test Mode" with their expensive equipment

Then again maybe that tool is only needed for setting the BISS adjustment and timing should simply be set to 8* BTDC under the outlined conditions

...taken from my 97-99 FSM 4G63 section

Any thoughts?

[1G9S9T7]

I do think I need to invest in a timing belt cover. I don't even get why somebody would leave it off. Do the 2g cars even have a plug to ground the timing since base timing isn't adjustable on them unless the cas is swapped?

[NHerron]

No, the 97-99 cars do not have a grounding pin, even at the ECU the pin is blank.

Note pin 52 in this pinout
2g Turbo ECU Pinout w/ wire colors

This is also quoted from "tarantula" over at dsmtalk.com post #21

Idling Low BISS not fixing problem - Page 2 - DSM Forums: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon Forum: DSMtalk.com

Let me make a big correction in this thread. There are two versions of 2G's and each version has a different setup.

The 2Ga 95-96 has the Brown, Blue and Black plug on the firewall. The BROWN is the grounding connector, the BLACK is the fuel pump test and the BLUE is the tach signal. Earlier in this thread these colors were mixed up so I'm making this very important correction. You don't want to put 12V to the Blue one thinking its the fuel pump test wire.

The 2Gb 97-99 has the Black and the Blue only! The Brown was not provided. So to set the 2GB cars, the scan tool is needed. I have yet to see if anyone has tried to ground out the same pin the scan tool grounds.

[1G9S9T7]

So if I am reading correctly, I need a scan tool to set base timing on my car? Thanks for that help too.

[NHerron]

Well I have something similar to DSMlink which logs things inside the ECU like, ignition timing. When my car was running idle under the specified conditions my live log was showing around 10degrees advanced. With elevation in mind (Montana) I figured this was right. So I adjusted my 1G CAS to match the ECU value to come up with 10degrees actual advance and 10degrees advance according to the ECU

Not saying this is the correct way but I haven't had knock or anything funky. I would really like to hear what others do about this problem though...

Not sure what to tell ya but I'm kinda in the same boat

My boss from my previous job had an expensive scan tool that dug deep into the ECU for specific values like ignition timing so I don't believe it's a dealership thing.

If you can find someone with a scan tool like that you could probably get away with how I did it. But again, I'm not 100% percent on that, all I can say is the engine hasn't knocked itself to death

[1G9S9T7]

If I get the money for link, I will buy it since it's pretty much useful for everything. I have limited funds right now along with no datalogger or scan tool so I am in a bind. I haven't even looked into a datalogger yet but I believe it's that time..

[NHerron]

I know there's lots of info about loggers on the site and I believe they are super cheap too so that wouldn't be a bad idea

Good luck and welcome to the forums by the way

*Ah I just found something, I can't believe I forgot about this link (towards the bottom)

RRE Instructions

So in conclusion, get a datalogger and match ECU timing to actual timing like I have done

[1G9S9T7]

I had another question about base timing so I figured I would just start it from my previous thread several months ago. I managed to get a 1g timing cover so I now have the timing marks on the cover. Again, the car is a 97 eclipse gst with a full 6 bolt swap. It's all stock being set up to be a daily driver right now. I was looking into setting it without a logger/link/scan tool etc. I found that when you have timing grounded, and you have it set at 5* btdc, if you check it ungrounded, it fluctuates between about 6* - 11* btdc. Now since I can't ground my timing and have zero access at the moment to a logger/scan tool, is it at all possible that I set my timing light up to 5* and as long as it's in the 6* to 11* range fluctuating, can that be accurate enough for me to set it so it's safely driveable? I wanted to verify the info I found and make sure it's ok. I am a little on the broke side right now so a logger is out of the question. I only plan on daily driving it as of now with the occasional gettin on it. Any advice is appreciated, especially from anyone who knows this from experience, etc. Thanks.

[NHerron]

So you're not grounding anything right?

To answer your question, yes it's fine.

I have something called ECUplus which is like DSMlink but doesn't have the grounding feature like DSMlink does to set base timing. So that's how I've been rolling, waited for everything to come up to operating temperature and then set timing to as close to 5* as I could. It fluctuates from 3 to 7 or similar. So it's pretty close.

Now if you had a 95/96, you could simply ground one of the firewall connections and get it done a little more 'correct'.

And here is a good thread on the subject of fitting a 1G timing cover when swapped into a 2G shell
Composite timing cover

I suggest cutting the cover into two pieces so that when you need to change the timing belt/etc you won't break it instead.