had the timing gun hooked to my battery and to the #1 cyl plug wire today. i was shootin the red marks on the crank pulley to see how my timing is, and every few seconds the gun would miss and not flash, like it skipped plug firing. does this mean that my gun is broke, or that my engine is not firing consistantly? also, if the pointer is on the middle of the 3 red marks, is that tdc or 16.5 degrees, and the line before that a few degrees advance, and a few degrees retard for the line after the middle one. sorry if this sounds confusing

 

The missing is most likely caused by your engine missing/inconsistent spark.You should do a tune up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMotive &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The missing is most likely caused by your engine missing/inconsistent spark.You should do a tune up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

hmm.... the spark plugs have 500 miles on them, but the plug wires have 20,000 on them(mds 8.5mm superconductors)....

 

could this also be the reason my engine is hesitating above 5500 or so rpms at full boost???

 

That could definately be a reason,especially on a turbo car.Have you changed the cap and rotor?

 

cap and rotor were replaced a little less than a year ago, but with the miles i drive, it was an easy 30,000+ miles ago. if i get a minute today ill take it off and see how it looks on the contact surfaces

 

Also try the timing light on another car. Sometimes those transducers go to ****, escpecially if it's ever been dropped.

 

check the coil

 

ok- shoulda said this before, and it seems to be all coming together now, but i belive my dist. is on its way out, cause my tach keeps ******* up. ive already replaced the coil/ignitor a few thousand miles ago, but its probably on its way out in general.....i will check the gun on another car. could i also hook it up to a different spark plug wire and see if it skips(if it doesnt wouldnt that mean my cyl 1 **** is fucked)?