So the distributor went bad on my friend's '90 Integra. It made a terrible grinding sound and wouldn't hardly run off of idle. Replaced the distrib/cap/rotor and went to time it... now here's where the (new) problem is:

With the car idling and check engine connector shorted (as instructed), the timing mark comes in BEFORE the white TDC mark. When I turn the distributor as far as it will go clockwise, it moves the mark to about halfway between the whtie TDC mark and the red 16 degree marks. I can't for the life of me get it to line up to the red marks. The car idles fine and runs 'ok'. It's definitely lacking power especially when you are accelerating in the low end.

FYI the car runs way better than it did before the distributor was replaced, but in summary I just can't get the timing marks to line up.

Help please!

 

OH FYI my timing light does not adjust and is preset to 0

 

Is the car at normal operating temp while you're trying to time it?

 

if you can't get the timing right with it all the way retarded, it's possible the bearing in the distributor seized and caused the belt to skip.
check your mechanical timing

 

Yeah that's checked at normal operating temp. I hadn't thought about it causing the belt to skip. I'll tear off the cover and take a look at it. Thanks.