Getting Ignition Timing Right

[Mishakol129]

Hey guyz. I wanna know if my mechanical tming is off or not. My dohc f22b head swap is running a little funny. I tried swapping ecu's to no effect. What's happening is my when I try to set the ignition timing, the marks disappear when the car warms up. All I can see are the + and - marks on the flywheeln and the 15o before TDC degree marks are completely gone, but when the car is cold I can see the 15o before TDC marks. Of course I jumpered the connector for setting the timing like it says and used the correct timing mark, its just whenever the car is warm the timing marks disappear or change altogether. They change from where I see a "15" with lines going horizontal to just "-" and "+" marks. Plz help.

[illinois_erik]

Hey guyz. I wanna know if my mechanical tming is off or not. My dohc f22b head swap is running a little funny. I tried swapping ecu's to no effect. What's happening is my when I try to set the ignition timing, the marks disappear when the car warms up. All I can see are the + and - marks on the flywheel and the 15o before TDC degree marks are completely gone, but when the car is cold I can see the 15o before TDC marks. Of course I jumpered the connector for setting the timing like it says and used the correct timing mark, its just whenever the car is warm the timing marks disappear or change altogether. They change from where I see a "15" with lines going horizontal to just "-" and "+" marks. Plz help.

might be off a tooth or two, my cars kinda in the same boat, when its cold and open loop or w/e it runs okay..once its warmed up it bogs till about 2K then goes.. Ive tried adjusting timing 2 or 3 times, the weather has sucked so i just dont drive it often, but its lacking power also like on the highway. when the weather breaks im going to redo my timing belt, set base idle then do base ignition timing while warmed up. as of now the best ignition timing i got was with the distributor pretty much swung forward all the way. it sucks, but if i can remedy my mistakes, the f22b and h22a inline for timing service wont be as daunting =\ good luck. I also bought a dial indicator to get the block to exactly TDC. I had my gf watch the flywheel and I dont think it was dead on even though I double checked. barley touching the pulley makes that mark move a lot lol. Also when I set the cam I was sort of confused with "UP"; up parallel to the head deck or up 90 degrees to the sky since the motor slants a bit. I dont remeber which I did, but im sure its part of the problem too and I guess I off 2 teeth.

[evil_demon_01]

I wanna know if my mechanical tming is off or not.

The only way to know is to remove the rocker cover and check the timing marks against TDC on the crank.

[GhostAccord]

You can check TDC by rotating the engine to approximately TDC. Removing the spark plug from the No.1 cylinder and inserting a wooden dowel or long shaft screw driver and rotate the engine to find TDC. When the rod/screwdriver stops moving up or down that is TDC. then check your timing marks on the flywheel.

If you check your physical timing and it is ok. Then it's time to start looking at electronic ignition control and distributor timing. Ignition timing is adjusted based on engine speed (RPM), coolant and intake air temps and your MAP sensor readings. If your engine is running hot or one of your sensors is off you won't be @ 15° anymore. If it moves back to 15° with the SCS connector jumped then there is data going to the ECU that is more than likely causing the timing issue.

[Mishakol129]

You can check TDC by rotating the engine to approximately TDC. Removing the spark plug from the No.1 cylinder and inserting a wooden dowel or long shaft screw driver and rotate the engine to find TDC. When the rod/screwdriver stops moving up or down that is TDC. then check your timing marks on the flywheel.

Got this part.

If you check your physical timing and it is ok. Then it's time to start looking at electronic ignition control and distributor timing. Ignition timing is adjusted based on engine speed (RPM), coolant and intake air temps and your MAP sensor readings. If your engine is running hot or one of your sensors is off you won't be @ 15° anymore. If it moves back to 15° with the SCS connector jumped then there is data going to the ECU that is more than likely causing the timing issue.

[/QUOTE]

I tried to make sure that physical timing was spot on and it is. Unless its off from the timing components im using, it could be. Will check that tomorrow .

ECU's didn't change the visibility of the timing marks. Neither did jumping the plug.

It could be my MAP sensor. My engine has always given the car heavy vibrations even after I rebuilt the engine, I have replaced everything there was having do with this EXCEPT the MAP sensor. But if that was bad would it not trigger an ecu code?

I know its in the black box so i'm thinking maybe I should go get one from the junk yard. Thing is diagnosing if its broken or not I am not sure how to do that.