what purpose does a timing light serve? if its just a light, cant you use a flashlight? im sure it has some other function. please enlighten me. also, is it necessary to have one when advancing your timing? any help is appreciated.

 

The timing light flashes at a specific rate. One of the wires it has attaches to your number 1 spark wire and cycles that way. When it flashes it shines on a mark on the crank shaft and then shuts off until the crank fully rotates again. The mark then shows up between designated points on the engine block and you can tell how far before or after TDC (top dead center) your ignition timing is.

 

It lights up the gunk built up on your crank pulley too

I can serve as stobe light you need one at your next party

 

may someone can help me in this post ,sorry to butt in

i can't get a reading, because i got the red underdrive pulleys. any suggestion. i tried it in the dark and everthing


[Modified by seek167, 11:39 PM 2/15/2002]

 

Should have marked the pulley when installed,,,,,,,, but you can try watching the rotor. If you have an old distributor cap drill a hole in it and use the timing light there. Won't tell you what angle you are at relative to tdc though.

 

Does it make any difference when adjust the timing at different idle speed say 700-800rpm and 900-1000rpm??