jesshaines

Heya,

I just attempted to set timing on my 2000 civic lx. Followed procedure as in diys - warm up car until cooling fan cycles twice, jump 2p service connector, set timing to 12btdc by lining up red mark with pointer on timing cover. So a couple questions....

1) some instructions including manual say to connect 2p service connector to scs connector - im guessing this has same affect as jumping with paperclip....?

2) The only notch I saw on pulley was more white than red....when I first got in there, this mark was beyond the pointer when viewed with timing light. I retarded timing as far as dizzy was able to spin, and notch was then in sights. But, if this is white tdc mark, then my timing is still off and dizzy cant spin anymore. So, what do you all think? Are there other factors that could make it impossible to set timing to 12btdc and need to resolved? Or more likely thats the correct notch and the paint has just worn off?

fragmare

There ought to be four marks on the crank pulley. At least there are on the D15s, i'm assuming it's the same on the D16es. There should be one single white mark off by itself (TDC mark) and then three other marks in a group an inch or so away from the TDC mark. The cluster of three marks are what you would use to set your ignition timing. If you can see them in full light on the crank pulley, but they're not coming up in the sights under timing light no matter how you rotate the dizzy, then re-check your mechanical timing... the timing belt could be a little off. That, or check your inductive pickup on your timing light haha

mk378

When you restart the engine with the connector jumpered, the check engine light should light up steady. If it doesn't come on, you don't have the connector properly jumpered.

Also check that the pulley is on the crank properly keyed by taking spark plug 1 out and put a suitable metal rod in the hole touching the piston while you rotate the engine by hand. When the piston comes all the way up, you should have the single mark under the pointer. The paint is always long gone, you may want to re-paint them.

If your timing light has a dial on it, set it to zero.

jesshaines

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm still stumped.

I did check mechanical timing and crank pulley key-ing. All looked good.

Turns out timing light did need to be set to zero, but was only 6 degrees off.

So now, I can see cluster of three lines with timing light but still can't retard timing enough to get there. Right now, I'm somewhere between the two.

I did have head resurfaced recently....shop said they only took off 0.005 (inches?) Which they said was hardly anything....still, other threads are saying removing material from head can mess with your timing and adjustable cam gear is the answer...the little bit of looking into that I did made it seem fairly complicated to get the cam adjusted properely.

and yes, induction pickup of timing light was attachad properely :-)

so any more thoughts on this?

thanks

mk378

If you're between the single mark (0 degrees) and the correct mark (12 degrees before) it's retarded too much.

The timing should advance significantly when you pull the jumper out. If the timing doesn't change when putting the jumper in and out, the ECU is not going into test mode.

If it does change you are probably a tooth off on the timing belt. Or the cam pulley is not properly keyed to the cam.

jesshaines

[QUOTE=mk378;51374908]If you're between the single mark (0 degrees) and the correct mark (12 degrees before) it's retarded too much.

The timing should advance significantly when you pull the jumper out. If the timing doesn't change when putting the jumper in and out, the ECU is not going into test mode.

Oh okay! Got it. Somehow I missed that part in dyi's. Will try it as soon as I can. So, with jumper in, what should it be set to? Single mark tdc? Or is it more of a guess and check situation? Sorry, I can also search around and find out too....

mk378

With the jumper in, set to the center notch in the group of three.

jesshaines

okay, finally got things spinning in the right way and timing set to 3 notches. Sorry bout that. Did I mention I'm a noob?

but, still no change after pulling jumper. Hmph.... and I just took car out for its first real road test after headgasket change. Ive got a tranny issue too that has always thrown a code under load, but today nothing. Unless replacing headgasket magically fixed tranny, somethings up. BUT CEL lights comes on when ecu jumpered. Double hmph.

it was also running pretty hot on a long grade near my place. It is 100F today but still, never used to run hot going up that hill. I'm hoping this could be timing/ecu related? Yes, rad, tstat, fan, fluid levels all good.

I'm feeling pretty out of my league with this ecu stuff. I've done some preliminary searching and the way forward is far from clear (to me). Would pulling #6 fuse/resetting it help? Check some other fuses?- I know theres one in underhood box but any others? Shop on ebay for new unit? Any thoughts are appreciated

thanks again

fragmare

The CEL being lit with the service connector jumped is normal. If you've recently changed the HG and it's running hot, the first thing I would do is give the car a good, long, proper coolant bleed. You have to jack up the front of the car or park on an incline, turn the heat up/fan down, and sometimes let it bleed for QUITE a while. While it's bleeding, you can watch the coolant and see if and when bubbles stop coming up. If bubbles NEVER stop coming up, kind of like little alka-seltzer bubbles... do a combustion leak test on the coolant while it's bleeding. If the special fluid turns from blue to green/yellow, there's something wrong with your head gasket install.

jesshaines

Ok, thanks. I'll try that. I gave it a pretty good 30 min coolant bleed but always possible theres more in there and I was parked on slight incline but no front of car jacked up. Thanks

mk378

Park with the car level or facing uphill and wait until the engine is completely cold. Take the radiator cap off, if the radiator is not full to the top you need to bleed again.