Hi, on my B16a im sure the old owner advanced the timing too much. It pings sometimes and you can tell the dizzy is noticeably turned towards the firewall.

Now I dont have access to a timing light so I want to be safe for now and retard the timing by turning it back maybe 3mm until i have time to take it into a garage.

But my question is do you HAVE to turn the distributor while the car is idling? Or can you just wait till your car is at operating temperature turn it off and wind forward the dizzy?

I know you still have to jump the service connector, etc.

 

you set the timing when the car is idling

 

Will I get a shock? One time I touched my distributor when the car was running and a got a nasty shock!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tianporn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Will I get a shock? One time I touched my distributor when the car was running and a got a nasty shock! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Were you wearing tenis shoes? probably got static electricity or something. I adjusted my distributor while my car was running and didn't get shocked, just becareful not to touch the positive connector on the starter to anything else metal.

 

Yeah i was wearing Pumas
What do you recommend? hehe

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tianporn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Will I get a shock? One time I touched my distributor when the car was running and a got a nasty shock! </TD></TR></TABLE>If you get a shock, that means your wires or cap are bad. Insulation has broken down & part of the energy is shorting to ground.

The only reason you adjust your timing while it's running, is so you can watch with the timing gun. Since you don't have one anyway, do it with the engine turned off. Doesn't even have to be warmed up. Turn it away from the firewall, that's the direction of less advance. Maybe 1mm or 2mm at a time, not too drastic.

 

Cheers Jimblake!