engine running bad

[Mr.MikeDMan]

ok here we go... a couple questions... 1) how many quarts of oil does the 1.9L engine hold, i put in about 4 but its way high on my stick... or maybe my dip stick is too far in the hole? i dont know.
2) my engine runs like crap right now and i think its the timing, how do i check it, i have looked down in there a bunch of times but i have not been able to see the timing mark... i havnt spent too much time on it yet(working on the interior right now) but any help would be gladly accepted.
thanks
mike

how close is too close when half the distance is too far away?

[saxybiker]

The service manual calls for 3 1/4 quarts of oil.

[West Coast GT]

Good luck.
That timing mark is located on the passenger side of the flywheel housing. The flywheel has a ball bearing pressed into it, requiring you to aim the timing gun under the carb & manifold, being careful not to tangle your power & pickup lines in the fan. Hopefully your fan shroud is intact for safety reasons.
Again, good luck on this.

Now, this won't help your immediate problem, but, in the "nice to have" department, some time once you've got your timing/ignition situation ironed out, create your own timing marks on the dampener pulley for convenience. Just use a chisel and nick a small V on it where you can see it easily.

Hey, in the mean time, be really careful timing the engine as you try to angle the timing gun down there near fan. (One more reason to install an electric fan)

[kmon]

Timing can also be done with a multimeter if you dont have access to a timing gun. Line up the car on TDC as decribed above. Place one lead to ground, one lead to the condersor 'post' of the distributor (go ahead and take the cap off). Slowly rotate the engine until you see 12v across your meter then back it off just a hair. I would also check the points, and make sure the gap is right. Also, I'd pull the spark plugs, clean them up and regap them, replace if you need too. And I'd measure the resistance for each spark plug wire, if you have a wire that has a really high resistance I'd get a new wire. Good luck to you.

[pvcar]

for the timing thing what i would do is if u ever take ur tranny and or engine out go ahead and put a nice glop of white out on that ball bearing makes it way easier to see and then if u do transfer the mark to anthor spot u can also put a dot of white out on that mark jus makes evry thing a million times easier.

[houserc]

Check out this thread. It has a picture of the ball and the mark.

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/showthr...ht=timing+mark

The other thing you can do is, line up the timing ball on the flywheel with the timing indicator. Then make a mark on your front timing cover AND a corresponding mark on the crank pulley that you can better use a timing light on.

I have EFI on my GT and it is next to impossible to get a timing light to hit the flywheel while I can see it.

Good luck,
Chris

[houserc]

Are you running points or Electronic Ignition?

My GT started running really crappy and backfiring and such. Turned out the EI was bad. After I replaced it, it now runs perfect.

[Mr.MikeDMan]

alright, thanks everyone i will get on it all right away. i fried my pertronix pick up module about a month ago, and i ordered a new one and it went in already... so unless its faulty, i dont think it would be that.
my manual thing i have shows me a crappy picture of the timing mark and ball thing and i had no idea at all where to find it. so thanks a bunch for that better picture...
i will check it all out in the next couple of days and see if i can come to any conclusion.
mike

here i am, wet or dry