Originally Posted by junior-ae

I've been doing quite a bit with trying to set the timing on my 96 EX.

First, you need a timing light. I have one with a dial on it so I can tell exactly what the timing is, no matter how far off it is. I would recommend one of these.

Then, you need to make sure the car is at normal operating temperature. Once its there, turn the car off.

On the passenger's side down by the ECU, there is a two pin service connector. Mine was tucked in a rubber boot towards the top of the ECU. It shouldn't have anything connected to it.

Jump the two terminals on the connector. I use a short piece of speaker wire.

Turn the car on, and when the check engine light normally would go off, it should stay on. That's how you'll know if you got the right connector jumped.

Start the car, and check the timing using the timing light. I have an actual Honda service manual, so I'm not sure how detailed your Chilton's is for doing this. There are alignment marks on the timing belt cover. One of them is a v-wedge looking thing, and the one below it is an arrow that fits nicely in the wedge when looking down on it at the right angle.

You'll need to locate the timing marks on the crank pulley. There is one mark that is separated from the other three, and then a group of three. The Honda manual says that the middle mark is supposed to be red, but my red paint was worn off. I used a yellow crayon to make sure I could distinguish the middle of the 3 marks.

Check the timing. For a 98 Civic, with D-series engine, the timing should be at 12 degrees +/- 2. For a B16A2, the timing should be at 16 degrees +/- 2 degrees of advance. (Straight out of the Helm's manual)

If its off by a little, you can adjust it using the distributor. There are 3 bolts holding the distributor to the engine, and there's slots around all 3 that allow the distributor to rotate. If you're reading a timing of 7 degrees, for example, loosen the 3 bolts on the distributor and rotate it TOWARDS THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. You may want to have help doing this, or you're going to be running back and forth checking the timing and setting the distributor. If you're reading a timing of 16 degrees (on a D-series), then you rotate the distributor TOWARDS THE BUMPER. Repeat the process until you get it where its supposed to be.

If your timing is way the hell off, and rotating the distributor alone won't fix it, then the timing belt itself is potentially mis-aligned. That's not extremely difficult, but a lot more time consuming than adjusting the distributor.

Now, if its like my car, then the timing belt will be exactly where its supposed to be, and the distributor is rotated full advance, and the car STILL isn't within spec on the timing. That's where I'm at now, and I'm stumped. I've replaced the distributor, including cap and rotor, and plug wires. I checked the timing belt, and had a friend verify 3 times that it was where it was supposed to be. My car still runs like poo, and I'm getting ready to take it out and shoot it.

I hope that helps.