more timing light questions

[1Gina2G]

while the engine is running, and you ground the timing connector to the chasis, is the engine supposed to sound any different as/after you ground the connector? Would it be better to adjust the timing with a timing light before or AFTER my new rebuild's first drive down the road? I've only ran the engine a cupple times, just to break in the camshafts.


I was thinking before, does anyone think I should wait untill after the first few drives?

 

[Zulurider]

while the engine is running, and you ground the timing connector to the chasis, is the engine supposed to sound any different as/after you ground the connector? Would it be better to adjust the timing with a timing light before or AFTER my new rebuild's first drive down the road? I've only ran the engine a cupple times, just to break in the camshafts.


I was thinking before, does anyone think I should wait untill after the first few drives?

I would adjust the base timing as soon as you start the engine for the first time. As to the engine sounding different when you ground the light,this it should not do. Maybe you have a bad spark plug wire? Z

 

[m1nd64m3]

I just pull the injector connectors and have someone crank the engine while I use the timing light.

 

[1Gina2G]

I just pull the injector connectors and have someone crank the engine while I use the timing light.

so that works? Sounds like it'd be better to pull the MPI fuse since it cuts the fuel and lets the engine turn.

match it to 5 BTDC correct?

 

[m1nd64m3]

I think the mpi may kill the ignition too (not 100% on that though), which you need so the timing light will work. Also disconnecting the injectors and cranking it will keep the ecu from adjusting the timing while your trying to manually adjust it. Just make sure you dont drain your battery.

Wait are you running the 2g cam sensor or a 1g style adjustable one? Because if its a 2g cam sensor then just bolt it on and plug it in because it's not adjustable so you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting it.

And yes it's 5 btdc

 

[1Gina2G]

I think the mpi may kill the ignition too (not 100% on that though), which you need so the timing light will work. Also disconnecting the injectors and cranking it will keep the ecu from adjusting the timing while your trying to manually adjust it. Just make sure you dont drain your battery.

Wait are you running the 2g cam sensor or a 1g style adjustable one? Because if its a 2g cam sensor then just bolt it on and plug it in because it's not adjustable so you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting it.

And yes it's 5 btdc

what exactly do you mean by 'might kill the ignition' I thought that was the point of cutting off the gas. I also thought the whole point of pulling the MPI fuse was to save time compared to pulling the injector plugs / pulling the plug at the fuel pump assembley, for the entire reason of gas obviously. Feels like I'm missing something..

it's a 1G CAS, just bolted on in a random postion for now, but the engine runs just fine on it's own.

So I set the gun to 5* and adjust the CAS while watching the timing cover right? im still reading about it..

 

[m1nd64m3]

No, kill the ignition not the engine. Your ignition needs to be firing for the timing light pickup to get the signal from the spark plug wire so that the light on the gun flashes at the correct time. You want to kill the fuel while maintaining spark, and you also don't want the ecu to adjust the timing while you're trying to set it, so pulling the fuel injector connectors will achieve this.

You hook up the leads to the battery positive and a ground, then connect the pickup around one of the spark plug wires (I think the #1 wire, but I'll let someone else pipe up and confirm that, it's been a while since I've done this). Then aim the light on the crank pulley and while you are cranking it watch the mark on the crank pulley, slowly adjust the cam sensor till that mark lines up with the 5 degree btdc mark on the lower cam cover.

Make sure your crank pulley is on correctly, there should be a dowel on the cam belt sprocket that the crank pulley fits over. Also I put a little bit of white out on the crank pulley mark to make it easier to see. Once you have everything hooked up and installed correctly you will have a better idea of how it works, it's pretty easy to figure out when you see the light blinking and observe the mark on the pulley.

When you're done, tighten down the cam sensor and check the timing one more time to make sure the cam sensor didn't move while tightening it down.

 

[1Gina2G]

I understand now, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Zulurider]

No, kill the ignition not the engine. Your ignition needs to be firing for the timing light pickup to get the signal from the spark plug wire so that the light on the gun flashes at the correct time. You want to kill the fuel while maintaining spark, and you also don't want the ecu to adjust the timing while you're trying to set it, so pulling the fuel injector connectors will achieve this.

You hook up the leads to the battery positive and a ground, then connect the pickup around one of the spark plug wires (I think the #1 wire, but I'll let someone else pipe up and confirm that, it's been a while since I've done this). Then aim the light on the crank pulley and while you are cranking it watch the mark on the crank pulley, slowly adjust the cam sensor till that mark lines up with the 5 degree btdc mark on the lower cam cover.

Make sure your crank pulley is on correctly, there should be a dowel on the cam belt sprocket that the crank pulley fits over. Also I put a little bit of white out on the crank pulley mark to make it easier to see. Once you have everything hooked up and installed correctly you will have a better idea of how it works, it's pretty easy to figure out when you see the light blinking and observe the mark on the pulley.

When you're done, tighten down the cam sensor and check the timing one more time to make sure the cam sensor didn't move while tightening it down.

Yes timing is done on cylinder 1. The cylinder on the front of the engine

 

[turbotom]

When you ground the timing to set the base timing it should idle down and sound different. I set my timing while running and never had a problem doing it that way. Once the base timing is set and the TPS calibrated the car should idle really smooth.

 

[m1nd64m3]

I understand now, thanks for the clarification.

Glad I could help!