Hi Everybody,

I recently bought a 99 Civic EX with 128000 miles on it. Some weeks ago I decided to check the timming on my car. Reading the Hayness I bought for it I saw the factory setting should be BTC12 +- 2.

I decided to go for 14 since it would be a bit better on fuel economy. The problem is that I set my timming light to 14 degrees and I aimed into the 14 degree mark on the pulley. For what I understand this is bad since I put a total of 28 degrees on it? My previous car only had a mark so that was easy but I got confused with this one.

The thing is that I was hearing some knocking (not any pinging) on it and started doubtinhg whether my rod bearing were fried, then I set it correctly puting the gun to 0 degrees and aiming to the 14 mark in the pulley and this knock went away, but I still hear a bit of bearing noise.

My question is if there is a chance of having any other issues appart from that?. Maybe this bearing noise is normal and it was on it all the time. I only ran the car for something like 500 miles and very quietly, I think only one time hitted the 7000 k rpm range. Another thing that worries me is that my knock sensor is bad but anyways I did not hear any pinging on the car at any time.


Thanks!

 

Should be 4 marks on pulley. Center of three is stock spec timing.
No, bearing noise is not normal, sorry, that sucks. Sounds like your engines had a rough life from PO's. Good luck

 

You could have cracked a ringland on one of the pistons or fried the skirts. The noise you're hearing could be scuffing or dragging rather than a bearing. Do a compression test and post the results. Its a cheap and easy way to rule out an issue

 

The sound it makes its really bearly noticeable at around 2000 rpm, it really helped retarding the timming to where it has to be.

The car really flies as is, the other day it took from 0 to 100 mph really quick.

I hope the 14 btc setting is the best one for fuel economy what do you think about that?

Thanks!

 

Each eng likes diff timing. Thus the +/- spec. Slight differences all sum up to whichever # the eng likes. Try +/- 1 degree @ a time for what suits you and engine. Give it 50-100 miles to settle in before adjusting again unless noise gets worse, then just stay @14.

Edit what oil weight are you using? Does eng make the noise in neutral? Accellerating or decellerating? When exactly, b/c all we know is @ 2k

 

Fix the knock sensor because pre-ignition will kill your engine quick. You may have already done damage because of the advanced timing. Usually a burnt valve will result, but if you have good compression this is not the case.