My stock 93 LS failed today for 3 reasons. Fuel cap failure, broken evap canister, and ignition timing was off. I did pass the sniffer test though.

Ive already replaced the gas cap and evap canister with used/good ones from a junkyard. My timing was at 12 BTDC. The tech said I need to be at 16 degrees in order to pass. My question is if I set my timing to 16 degrees will it effect the sniffer numbers enough for it to fail? I think Im gonna let a shop deal with the timing cause I have no clue on how to do it.

 

Lenny, timing is easy. Grab a timing light and a 12mm wrench. Jump the service connector like you're gonna check a code, loosen the 3 dist. bolts, and rotate the dizzy towards the firewall. Point the timing light at the crankyou should see 3 colored lines. Line the middle one up with the mark on the block and that is 16 deg. BTDC. You'll still pass sniffer.

http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/timing/timing.php

 

Your factory timing can be anywhere from 14-18 degrees. Factory setting is 16 + 2 - 2. So anywhere from 14-18 is within spec. and your car should run fine. If anything it would help on the sniffer, but that was not your problem. You still passed even thought you were out of time. Being in time is a category they pass you on. Read some of my posts, you'll see all I have gone through most recently in reference to failed smog.

 

Thanks for the link Brett. I found a friend with a timing gun, gonna try it tomorrow without trying to get sparked. :nervous:


centerforce99... yeah the tech said i have 2 degrees to play with. hopefully i can get it on the dot and gain some gas milage.

 

It's easy. If you need a hand, let me know. You don't have to rotate the distributor too much to get it to change. Once you tighten the bolts back up, check it with the timing light again to make sure.

 

Alright I ran into a few problems. I followed the steps on the Cspeed site over and over again but the problem keeps coming up. I set the timing right on the dot at 16 degrees. It then goes back to 12 degrees after I take out the jumper wire on the service connector. Any one know why it likes to default itself to 12 instead of staying at 16 where its suppose to?

 

That's odd...the ECU is pushing it back to 12. :dunno:

 

Eh fuk it. I did some magic on some idle issues I had and its fixed. Just passed smog with flying colors about 30 min ago. :rick:

 

When you have the jumper in, it stops the ECu from making any automatic adjustments. If you watch the timing closely with a light without a jumper in, you will see that it actually fluctuates slightly. When you take the jumper out, it's normal to see it change that much.

Try advancing your timing a degree or two more and see what it does then after your remove the jumper.

Also, some techs are just extra sensitive to certain things. The tech that saw my car noted I have my timing was pretty seriously advanced (to something like 20 degrees :rick: ), but he passed me anyways when I told him it was intentionally set that way, was not failing the emissions part, and I offered to retard the timing on the spot