Timing LIght help.

[maglinjosvinn]

so yeah.

you're permitted to laugh now.

*waits a moment* oh wait... the punch line first. right.

i got this here timing light and don't know hwo to use it. hahaha. anyways, i've always wondered if my timing was right and i was told that this is a good place to start, so i figured id grab one up. now that i have it, its relatively simplistic looking... 2 aligator clips red and black *huh. lol* and a clip that quite clearly appears to go over the cable itself. i think. hence. i ain't tried it yet. *laughs again* so someone throw me a bone here and give me a hand?

[BQS4]

The alligator clips go on your battery terminals (red +, black -) and the other is probably the inductive pick up which goes around #1 plug wire (hint it's the first one just back from the distributor ) and read on the inductive clip as to which way the clip is suppose to face.

[maglinjosvinn]

righty-o captain. dang. you're not on yim after all... *sigh* lol. now... in theory, is this light supposed to go solid or what, if the timing is right?

[okiejohn]

it will flash in sequence with the #1 spark plug firing and you check your timing either on the foreward pully or the block and flywheel mark im not sure as i havnt timed a opel motor yet look in the downloadable 73 field service manual it should tell you exactly what to do ----have fun-John

[maglinjosvinn]

OOH! right. *sigh* *Goes out to jack up the car*

[benncojr]

It is easer if you do it with 2 people. One to hold the timeing light the other to move the distributor. Or you could do it by yourself and burn your arm trying to hold the light and seeing the mark on the flywheel and moving the distributor all at the same time!!

[okiejohn]

should be able to do it without jacking the car up

[benncojr]

Originally Posted by okiejohn should be able to do it without jacking the car up

Correct, you just have to find the mark on the flywheel. The timeing light is a stobe light that indicates when the #1 spark is firing that should also coinside when the mark on the fly wheel shows up!!. You will shine the timing light on the flywheel at the indicator area (a window). The mark is on the passanger side of the car.

It one of those things it is easer to show you then tell you!

HTH

[David McCollam]

You do not need to jack up the car. In fact it is not recommended for this procedure at all.

If you have a 68-73 GT or 71-74 Manta/Ascona, the timing is do at the small "window" in the block behind the exhust manifold. It is difficult to see in the bright sun, actually most natural light conditions. If the car is a '75 Manta/Ascona the timing mark is on the crank pulley at the front of the engine.

Connect the timing light to the battery, disconnect the vacuum advance line at the distributor and plug the line. Connect the inductive pickup, correct side up on the #1 sparkplug lead about half way between the distrubtor and plug. Start engine and maintain recommended idle speed. Pull the trigger on the timing light while pointing at the crank pulley of window on the block. You should see the timing mark as a shadow point at or near the end of the pointer in the window or on the timing cover. As you turn the distrubtor and hold the light with the triggerdepressed the mark will move in a direction according the movement of the distributor.

When the mark is aligned with the pointer at the speed recommended for setting the timing, the car should be timed corectly. Turn off the engine and reattach the vacuum hose at the distributor. Done!

Dave

[asdasc]

OK, I will post the next dumb question that I have been reluctant to ask. When someone tells you to set the timing 'advanced 12 degrees', how do you do it with that silly ball and pin?

Also, I read on here somewhere, some time ago, that the ball and pin are not always very accurate. How would one go about confirming that? I assume it is easier with the engine torn down, so I would like to do that while it is apart.

Thanks,

[jordan]

Jeff denton sectioned up the flywheel into degrees (really clever fella) and found out how many teeth were a certain number of degrees and marked them while making his initial mark at tdc. A quick search and I'm sure you can find the thread.

[baronbors]

Being old and fat- it was hard for me to contorsion myself so I set the timing mark at dead center and then etched a mark on the block and the lower pulley and then put some white paint on the marks. Now I time the pully mark insted of the flywheel

[GTJIM]

When the timing lightis hooked up correctly, as in the posts above, it gives out a flash of light each time the #1 spark plug fires. This flash illuminates what ever it is pointed at - including the ball in the flywheel or the ring gear teeth or the timing marks on the front of the motor. In low light conditions the flash makes the marks look like they are standing still because they are only lit up each time the light flashes - called the "stroboscopic effect"

Here is the link to the Flywheel starter teeth timing method:

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/opel-en...l+degree+marks

You can either yank the starter motor and look through the hole - but that makes the car difficult to start! - or pull the sheet metal cover from in front of the bell housing to see the ring gear teeth.
The other thing to do is to paint the area each side of the timing ball and/or front cover marks and scribe a line or two at two tooth intervals next to it. See the linked thread to find out the appropriate number of teeth for the marks.

OH! Take care when the motor is running and you are using a timing light as everything looks like it is standing still - including the fan blades!!
They are NOT standing still......

[maglinjosvinn]

its twilightish.

i'm looking down through the engine bay, with the gun pointed at the hole, looking right between the carb and hte heater core (area) and directly into the hole... at an angle, directly into the hole. aside from standing on my head, with my shoulders resting on the airfilter and radiator, i'm not seeing how i'm supposed to 'see' these said marks... in fact, i can't barely see the 'nieedle' attached to the block, much less a itty bitty mark that may or may not be lined up appropriately by the PO.

so. without having to (i pray) take out the tranny to make sure the flywheel is actually bolted on correctly when the #1 piston is the right position...

lol...

i assume i can take hte head cover off, make sure the valves are open in the right spots, (that'd tell me the pistons are ligned up correct?) meanwhile, i enjoy the idear of marking the front pully to say here is 'start'.

oh. btw. whats the advantage of changing the degrees on teh distrubtor?

[RallyBob]

If you ever have the opportunity, modifying the front crank pulley like this helps a lot: http://www.opelgt.com/forums/65538-post334.html

[Paul Martin]

Hi Everyone, Maglin and so, you can use a timing light to try to get your timing right, recomended, but otherwise, an alternative suggestion is to, well, do it by ear. That is, advance the timing by turning the distributor till the engine has easy start, and yet does not ping under hard acceleration under load.

What I do is to loosen the distributor hold down just a bit, so I can turn it, but not enough that it will float or drift. Run the car around the block, see if it pings, if not, advance it a bit more, till it feels right, if it pings, retard it a bit.

Much depends on the gas your using. I only put high octane in my GT, if you use a lower octane, with gas prices being so high these days, no wonder that, but despite what octane gas you run, you can adjust the timing without a light, via the method I wrote above.

Also, my GT has a vaccum advance and retard, I took out the retard part on my GT, after all it is quite well on in years, and so I took some liberty to make it run properly aside from how it was originally designed to run.

The proof is in the pudding, as it were. Advance it till it does not ping and you will get the most out of your engine. German's are great engineers, but they did not make it easy to time Opel engines via a timing light.

Also, those of us who have modified our engines, the timing may not be as it was from the factory anyway, hence the open ended timing by "ear".

I have used this method for other engines, especially modified engines with good results.

Paul

[Paul]

Here is what I've done with good results. First starting in a garage or some place with low to medium light...but with a strong flash light. Turn the engine over by hand, wrench, etc. until I can see the "Ball" on the Flywheel line up with the pointer in the "Window" and checking that rotor is lining up with the #1 electrode in the distributor. Then I paint a mark on the timing cover and matching mark on the pulley. I use finger nail polish because of its ability to paint and stick over most oily substates.

As a side note make sure you only turn the engine in the forward/clockwise direction. that would be as standing in front of the car facing the engine...

Now you can use the timing light on these marks...