ignition timing locked!!

[mikellinos]

Hello from Cyprus! I recently bought a 92' galant with vr4 engine (the one with the yellow injectors). the car is running with 17psi boost and air/fuel ratio with full throttle is 10-11. While driving the car i found that from 4000rpm to 6500rpm the engine needs some time to rise the rpm's and i decided to check and set the base ignition timing.
With the wire grounded i set the timing 10 degrees, when i removed the wire the timing was still at 10 degrees and i wanted to check if the timing advance in higher rpm's, then i found that at higher rpm's (4000-5000) the timing was not only still at 10 degrees but also it was going near 9 degrees!
What would cause that problem?
And please clarify me that: My engine is the same as the 1g dsm?

Sorry about my english...

 

[Takophiliac]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say i believe that DSMs don't have a timing advance.
On the down side of the timing belt (that goes from the intake cam down to the oil pump) there is a static pulley bolted right to the block and on the up side of the timing belt (from the crank up to the exhaust cam) there is only the tensioner. i don't believe the tensioner will, nor in the best circumstances, should, adjust the timing at all.

If you have a Galant VR-4 with a 4g63T motor, then, yes, you got the same engine.

EDIT: Oops, talking about valve advance here, not ignition advance, which i know nothing about. Sorry if that was confusing. The little i do know is that, at least in 2g DSMs, its a distributorless ignition, so any ignition advance or retardation (term?) would be controlled by the engine management computer.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

How are you reading your timing? Base timing should be around 5 unless you're tweaking it. Are you using a logger to get actual values while under boost/load etc. ?
Make a log and determine if you're knocking/pulling timing.

 

[mikellinos]

Am reading the timing with a timing gun, even i set the base timing at 5 degrees at high rpm doesnt change! I dont have a logger, i have a boost gauge, a wide-band and exhaust temperature gauge.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

So you're using a gun to read your timing when you're driving fast, at 5k and full boost?
You need a logger. You're just chasing your tail. You might not have a problem at all.
The thing is, checking timing under the hood at anything but idle is not representative of real world conditions and that's likely why you're not seeing the expected results.

Lower the boost a bit to be safe and find out what's really going on - without a timing gun.

 

[DSM1G90]

You need to do base timing the old fashioned way: jumper wire on the ECU plug then to ground then adjust the timing to 5*BTDC with the light on the pulley and lead from the gun on No.1 sparkplug wire.

You need to ground out the ECU to disable it to do base timing.

Otherwise, you're wasting your time by depending on them fool loggers for any sort of reference.

Why timing is locked is that the ECU is in full control of the ignition and will keep the same timing no matter what you do with the CAS.

Good luck-DSM

 

[mikellinos]

So you're using a gun to read your timing when you're driving fast, at 5k and full boost?
You need a logger. You're just chasing your tail. You might not have a problem at all.
The thing is, checking timing under the hood at anything but idle is not representative of real world conditions and that's likely why you're not seeing the expected results.

Lower the boost a bit to be safe and find out what's really going on - without a timing gun.

you know what i mean.... with the car stopped even when the engine is idling or 4k-5k the timing doesn't change.

 

[mikellinos]

I forgot to mark solved... That problem finally had nothing to do with the ignition timing, the problem was with the spark plugs, i moved from 6ES to 7ES and the different was very noticeable, it seems that the combustion at high rpm wasn't very good.