I'm trying to set the ignition timing on my 92 Civic CX. The car is running kinda hard and when I went to set it I only see a yellow spot on the crank pulley... I advanced the distributor all the way and it sounds like it is running better now.. The yellow spot is directly under the cross hairs on the block for the timing. Let me know

Anthony

 

not sure if it is yellow but on the crank pulley u have 3 lines close together u are supose to line up the center line with the mark on the front cover.

 

I only see one line and it is yellow??

 

Try cleaning off the crank pulley. There might be crap covering the other markings.

 

Also, do you need to jump the service connection in order to set the timing?? What purpose does this serve?

Anthony

 

Dude, search>op. You need to jump the connector under the dash so that it actually sets the ignition timing. Otherwise it would continue to try and set it where it was at. And try to clean off that pulley, because there should be three red notches more advanced then that white(yellow) one. Do you have a timing light? And are you running the stock the computer for the motor? Is it throwing any codes?

 

I have a timing light and I have a stock motor with a stock ECU. D15B8. I'll clean it off, jump the connector, and try again. Thanks man!

 

Did you figure it out, mang?

 

Not yet. I haven't had a chance. The car sounds like it is either missing or possibly a vacuum leak. It still gets good gas mileage though... I'll try to clean it off tonight and look for the red marks

 

Yeah... turns out I'm an idiot and I was looking on the wrong side of the crank pulley. I am in the middle of the 3 lines with the distributor advanced all of the way. Am I off a tooth on the timing belt?

Also, it sounds like the engine is missing a little bit. I could take a video if that would help? I swapped the distributor and wires with another set.. I have not tried changing the plugs yet though. Let me know!

Anthony

 

It does sound like you're off a tooth. Check your valve timing.

 

Would that cause the miss? How do I check valve timing?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by juevi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TIMING:

If others check out well, check your timing, OR if COMPRESSION is off, CHECK YOUR TIMING. There are two kinds of TIMING to check. IGNITION TIMING and VALVE TIMING.

Check your valve timing by taking the top cover off of the timing belt and check the belt/cam/crank marks and see if lines up like is supposed to according to the manual.

Check your ignition timing after the Valve Timing has been confirmed to be ok. You will need to use a timing light and research what you have to plug/unplug to get the proper reading. Checking your ignition timing is more for when you have it running. But you can still see if it’s somewhat close with a timing light by just cranking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did replace my water pump and I am FAIRLY certain I put the belt back on correctly. I got this motor from someone and I'm not sure if it ran this way before I got it or not.. I guess I could try replacing the plugs too.

 

If you have to rotate the distributor all the way to one side for the ignition timing to be set at the OEM spec, your valve timing is most likely off. If the engine doesn't seem to be running right, that's even more of an indication that your timing is wrong. Check that before you start buying parts.

Also, when you set your timing, you make sure there was no load on the engine, right? There are no vacuum leaks or anything?

 

There was no load on the engine and I don't believe that there are any vacuum leaks. The RPMs are steady

 

New plugs did not fix it.. still sounds like it's missing. Should I take an audio/video clip?

 

Well... have you checked your valve timing like I suggested earlier?

 

I'm not 100% positive how to check my valve timing to be honest with you.

 

http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/

Download a shop manual, and it'll tell you what to do. It shouldn't take very long.

 

I have it! I'll check it tonight.

 

OK, so as per page 6-63... I should rotate the crank pulley and line up the white line (TDC) with the timing line crosshair thing.. and then check to make sure the two lines on the cam gear are parallel with the cylinder head upper surface? Thanks in advance

 

Yup, that's right.

 

Depending on your engine that might be right. What engine do you have?

 

D15B8. I'll try to check the valve timing today. Maybe I'll take some pictures.

 

Finally checked the valve timing and it looks just fine! I'll take pictures and get an audio clip tonight.