timing problems

[MitzMadness]

A while ago I datalog my car on some friends laptop and it showed my timing jumping up and down I can't remeber exact numbers but it was vary as much as 3 degrees at idle. Any idea what could be the problem, I'm fairly new so I'm not really sure I was told it could just be a leak in my vaccum or intake.

 

[Quasimondo]

Does it idle smoothly? Are you boosting properly with no fuel cut, or sluggishness?

 

[MitzMadness]

It idles smoothly but it feels strong, It'd help more if I knew what I could run the quarter mile in then I coiuld tell you if speed wise its up to par. Any ideas?

 

[zxdude]

ive also got a timing problem.... im getting 45 degrees @ 4406 RPMs no knock....in the same log I got 22 counts of knock @6218 rpms with 23 degrees of advance the TPS was reading 25% if that matters. the engine has around 150 miles on a fresh rebuild

 

[Quasimondo]

Mitz, if the engine is running fine, then chances are that your timing is okay. I've logged my timing anywhere from 8-11 degrees, depending on electrical load, whether or not the AC is running, etc. Unless the engine is running like a dog, I wouldn't be worried.

ZXdude, it's not really a timing problem you have. The ecu will retard timing whenever it sees knock. The higher the knock count, the more timing it's pulled. If you're getting knock at partial throttle, chances are that you're suffering from phantom knock, where the knock sensor is so bad that ordinary engine noise is picked up as knock by the sensor. There's a couple of good threads on phantom knock and what others have done to fix the problem. Just do a keyword search on Phantom Knock.

 

[MitzMadness]

Yes my timing jumps just like you said quasi but this is at idle this was occuring but the car still ran smoothly and I was also not running any accessories.

 

[Quasimondo]

If you're still worried about your timing, click here for how to set your base timing. Basically, it involves grounding out the timing adjusting plug so the cam angle sensor doesn't try to adjust timing while you're trying to adjust timing, and turning the cam angle sensor until the engine is set at 5 degrees btdc. It's all explained in the link.

And if you're worried about a possibly bad CAS, don't be. It's one of those items where if it goes bad, then your engine won't run. If your engine is still running, then it's still working.

EDIT: I gave you the link for adjusting timing on the 1G by mistake, so here's the link for 2G's http://www.vfaq.com/mods/wayback/BradBauer/engine/timing.html, but the procedure is pretty much the same.