I was reading a post of DIY mods, and I was wondering about the ignition timing advance one. Well i was wondering, since it says to turn the distributer towards the firewall to advance, could to turn it towards the front to retard the ignition timing? If anybody could shine some light on if this is possible , let me know. below are the directions to advance. thanks

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Ignition Timing Advance

Advancing your ignition timing is a trick that has been around for years and it's been proven to work on every car that has a distributor. Advancing ignition timing gives you better low end power, that's all there is to it.



Step 1 - Find the distributor. Look in the picture and see where the distributor attatches to the cylinder head. You will need to make a mark that shows the stock timing setting(look in the purple square that says "Without timing mark"). Take a Sharpie marker, a screwdriver, a razort blade, whatever, and make a mark that goes across the distributor onto the cylinder head so when you move the distributor, the mark seperates and you can measure the amount of movement from the distributor. Now that you have the mark made, it should look like the red outlined section, marked "With timing mark". Now to see how it works, look at the blue outlined section. You can see how the black mark on the right shows the stock setting and the mark on the left shows you how far you have advanced the timing.

Step 2 - Fill your car with 90-93(whatever they have in your area) octane gas. You should not advance your timing with low octane fuel because it will ping and that's bad.

Step 3 - Loosen the 3, 12mm bolts that hold the distributor in place. Don't remove them, just loosen them so you can rotate the distributor. Now, turn the distributor all the way towards the firewall, which is full advance. Tighten the 3 bolts and start the car. Drive the car down the street and make a full throttle pass(in any gear, doesn't matter what rpm or speed, just be at full throttle). If the car pings, immediately back off the throttle and pull the car over. When testing this, I always keep the tools in the car so I can adjust the timing without having to drive to the garage a zillion times. Now turn the distributor back towards the front of the car 1mm(1mm=~1degree). Tighten the bolts and do another full throttle pass. If the car pings, stop and move the distributor back another 1mm. Keep turning back the distributor 1mm at a time until the car stops pinging(doing a full throttle pass after each adjustment). Once the car stops pinging, you're done! You should be able to advance your timing 3-4 degrees(3-4mm) at least withouth having to worry about the car pinging.

 

You have a 5th gen. It's OBDII. You cannot change the timing at the distributor.

 

Well, Im not saying just for my car, but would it make sense that this would work if you were obd1? Im just curious.

 

yea just rotate it the other way to retard. not the best way to retard timing, because it retards it even when ur not boosting.

 

sorry for the questions, I don't know much about the OBD systems, but what makes it that it will work on OBD1 and not OBD2? thanks for your insight

 

When you rotate the distributor you're moving backwards/forwards the trigger wheels. You're fooling the ECU into thinking the engine is either farther forward or backwards from actual.

In the 5th Gen, the trigger wheels responsible for individual cylinder timing moved from the distributor to the crank.

 

i saw some site where they are suggesting doing a bunch of free mods, some of them look stupid, one of them he unbolts dizzy and turns it until engine pings and then back a mm, will this be safe/reliable, and will it help any?


jordan

 

do a search, theres lots of info on it. Basically it just shifts your powerband. When I did it, and most people I've talked to who have done it, it gives you a bit more lower end power at the expense of losing a little up top. My dyno showed this to be true. Others claim that it does the exact opposite (more power in upper revs) but that is not my experience.

 

i searched on it, and it seems like its not worth it, i'll try it out tho

 

you don't make more power, it moves where your power is made. remember, detonation is not good for your motor.

 

I run 17* timing but i think some of the cars make better power at 15 deg. Play with it on a dyno or at the track. Theres not enough difference to see on the butt dyno. LOL

 

I was pretty sure it made more power across the entire RPM range.

It is more pronounced on the lower-end, but increasing timing on the top-end will produce power as well. You're adjusting the base timing, you'll still get more advance from the ignition curves.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BB6-213 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was reading a post of DIY mods, and I was wondering about the ignition timing advance one. Well i was wondering, since it says to turn the distributer towards the firewall to advance, could to turn it towards the front to retard the ignition timing? If anybody could shine some light on if this is possible , let me know. below are the directions to advance. thanks

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ignition Timing Advance

Advancing your ignition timing is a trick that has been around for years and it's been proven to work on every car that has a distributor. Advancing ignition timing gives you better low end power, that's all there is to it.



Step 1 - Find the distributor. Look in the picture and see where the distributor attatches to the cylinder head. You will need to make a mark that shows the stock timing setting(look in the purple square that says "Without timing mark"). Take a Sharpie marker, a screwdriver, a razort blade, whatever, and make a mark that goes across the distributor onto the cylinder head so when you move the distributor, the mark seperates and you can measure the amount of movement from the distributor. Now that you have the mark made, it should look like the red outlined section, marked "With timing mark". Now to see how it works, look at the blue outlined section. You can see how the black mark on the right shows the stock setting and the mark on the left shows you how far you have advanced the timing.

Step 2 - Fill your car with 90-93(whatever they have in your area) octane gas. You should not advance your timing with low octane fuel because it will ping and that's bad.

Step 3 - Loosen the 3, 12mm bolts that hold the distributor in place. Don't remove them, just loosen them so you can rotate the distributor. Now, turn the distributor all the way towards the firewall, which is full advance. Tighten the 3 bolts and start the car. Drive the car down the street and make a full throttle pass(in any gear, doesn't matter what rpm or speed, just be at full throttle). If the car pings, immediately back off the throttle and pull the car over. When testing this, I always keep the tools in the car so I can adjust the timing without having to drive to the garage a zillion times. Now turn the distributor back towards the front of the car 1mm(1mm=~1degree). Tighten the bolts and do another full throttle pass. If the car pings, stop and move the distributor back another 1mm. Keep turning back the distributor 1mm at a time until the car stops pinging(doing a full throttle pass after each adjustment). Once the car stops pinging, you're done! You should be able to advance your timing 3-4 degrees(3-4mm) at least withouth having to worry about the car pinging.
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Is this safe and what is the pinging noise? Is this pinging noise loud or do you have to listen close?

 

This is not safe. It's the half-*** way to pick up power. Pinging is detonation. If you MUST do this, run a higher grade octane than 93. If you are turbo, don't even think about advancing your timing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IHateJDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you don't make more power, it moves where your power is made. remember, detonation is not good for your motor. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that would be cam degreeing not ignition timing.. ignition timing doesnt change your powerband.. it changes when in the cycle the cylinders fire

 

wouldnt advancing of any kind of timing be more likely to raise your EGT. so it is around .6-.75 degrees for every psi and im running 7.3psi so anywhere from 4.38 degrees retard to 5.47 degrees retarded. Is that correct?