My buddy was working on his thirdgen, accidentally dropped the distributor in a tooth off, he says. Now he claims that the car is timed right (6* BTDC) but that when he puts a light on it, it doesn't show up on the tab. He's pretty knowledgeable about cars and tried to explain to me how this happened. But I don't get it. I mean, how can it be timed right and not be on the tab? He says he turned the engine over a little w/o the distributor in, so the oil pump didn't turn with it. This I understand. But wouldn't that just rotate the position of the #1 plug wire on the distributor? Somebody please explain this to me because all I can figure is that if the car is timed right then #1 fires 6* before the #1 cylinder reaches the top on the compression stroke. And at that point the mark on the balancer has to be lined up with the timing tab. How could it be any other way? I mean, how could the position of #1 on the distributor make any difference on the balancer and timing tab? Confused all to he11...

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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

If his car is truly timed right, and is running good to prove it, but the timing mark on the balancer isn't showing up at the repective spot on the timing tab with a timing light on it, either the balancer has come apart and the outer ring has spun, the balancer is a POS and was built wrong, or the timing light was on the wrong spark plug wire when the light was put on it (don't laugh, I have seen some very good mechanics do this one and end up chasing their tails....).

Turning the engine over without the distributer in and getting it to the right position so the distributer will drop in correctly will not affect where the balancer timing mark ends up because it is mechanically binded to the rotation of the crankshaft through the keyway on the front of the crankshaft... Thus, when the timing of the ignition system is correct with respect to the rotating assembly and it fires the #1 cylinder, the number one plug wire will trigger the inductive timing light and the light will flash and the timing mark *MUST* be atleast somewhat in view near the timing tab at that time. And if he claims it is timed correctly at 6*, than the mark should be right on 6* when the timing light flashes - go figure...

Sounds like he isn't knowledgable enough about cars.....

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club

 

That's what I thought. I made him explain it to me 3 times and still couldn't figure it out. And he's looking at me like I'm a dumb@**. I spent all day trying to figure it out and only succeeded in giving myself a headache.
I seriously doubt he had it on the wrong plug wire, I mean, all this guy ever works on is SBC. Maybe he forgot to unplug the tan wire? He said he did something like turn the dial on the light 18* (I think) and then it lined up. It's definitley timed correctly now; it ran a 13.89 at the track. When it was timed "wrong" (when the light was lined up with 6* BTDC on the tab) it ran like total poo.

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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...


[This message has been edited by ViciousZ (edited October 29, 2001).]

 

This happened to me with a new balancer on a rebuilded motor, my timing lined up around the 11 o'clock position, I had various friends come over and try to figure it out but no one could get it right.
Recently there was someone else on this board who had the same thing happen to him and he couldn't figure it out...

 

I thought I had a timing related problem and a member gave me a great tip...I cut the top off an old cap (leaving the towers on, I used a rotozip works great), then just roll the engine over till it lines up on #1 tower, look at the balancer that's your timing, fool-proof. I was right on, it wasn't my timing, but I keep the cap in my toolbox now. Hope this helps.

 

That is a good theory. He very easily could have forgotten, or didn't know, about the ESC bypass line and tried to time it with the ESC active and advancing the timing. So he dialed in the advance on his timing light like you are saying he said, and it got him back to where he would have been with the bypass disconnected. So essentially his timing light did the exact opposite of what the ESC was doing which put him at 0* and than he dialed in 6*... But how would he have known where he was at? But when you said the timing mark doesn't show up on the tab, is that with the ESC bypass still connected? If so, then it makes perfect sense....

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club

[This message has been edited by Matt87GTA (edited October 29, 2001).]