Adjustable timing light.

[malex]

Today I was doing some basic maintenance on my 64. Checked the valve lash, made some jetting changes, and checked my timing using my adjustable timing light. With the dial set at 36 degrees, TDC on the balancer lined up perfectly with TDC on the timing cover mark. (36 is what this engine liked best on the dyno). I have my distributor locked and it's at full advance at all times.
I decided to zero the dial on the timing light and read the degrees on the balancer for a comparison. When I did that it showed that I was running at 24 degrees total advance. What the hell..
I believe that when the timing light dial is set to zero it should have still shown 36 degrees on the balancer.. There's a 12 degree difference. Am I missing something here? Or is it probably a timing light issue. Has anyone else run into this?

 

[silversedan]

thats why I don't use adj timing lights, seen it before. can't trust them.

 

[moparpoor]

I've seen it before. I own an adjustable myself. Have had great luck with it. I did have it recalibrated! A few issues I've run into over the years. Mismarked dampeners that should be checked when building the engine with a degree wheel. Dampeners that have spun. Timing light can be off to. Induction clamp dirty can cause issues. Just a few things I've experienced.

 

[Mike Gaines]

I had a similar problem with my timing light not reading properly. It was a brand new adjustable timing light. I talk to the rep at MSD and he said I could only use an MSD timing light with MSD ignition. He said my adjustable timing light would not work properly and it had to be an MSD timing light. The way I got it to work was to switch off the adjustable option on the light and use it like a regular light. Hope this helps.

 

[malex]

Thanks Moparpoor. Yes the balancer TDC mark was checked to the timing cover with a degree wheel and that's all correct. I didn't check the balancer degree markings though, but I will check now that you've mentioned it.

I'm going to check the timing with 2 other timing lights that I'm borrowing and see what they show but I wouldn't be surprised that my timing light isn't accurate.
I've read that the Innova 3555 timing light is compatible with MSD 6AL so one of those could be showing up pending on what I find.

 

[dvw]

I use a Summit brand on my stuff. It's all MSD. Remember timing is just number. Usimg whatever gives the best MPH is safe.
Doug

 

[malex]

I had a similar problem with my timing light not reading properly. It was a brand new adjustable timing light. I talk to the rep at MSD and he said I could only use an MSD timing light with MSD ignition. He said my adjustable timing light would not work properly and it had to be an MSD timing light. The way I got it to work was to switch off the adjustable option on the light and use it like a regular light. Hope this helps.

Hi Mike and thanks for this info. I'm certain that the MSD light is the way to go, not sure that their's is the only one that will work though. My light is nothing special and I've had it for years, I expect it's off. 12 degrees difference though between using the dial and running it at zero is a lot.
I do suspect that while I thought that I've been running at 36 degrees total, there's a good chance that it's not. Will know soon enough.

 

[malex]

I use a Summit brand on my stuff. It's all MSD. Remember timing is just number. Usimg whatever gives the best MPH is safe.
Doug

Hi Doug and I'll remember that. Haven't had enough passes yet to find what is best. That fuel issue that I was chasing plaqued me constantly. Will be heading back to the track on the weekend.

 

[Mike Gaines]

Use your light, just as a straight timing lite, without the dial in feature. that is what I do.
Also just any cheap, Non dial type, timing light will work ok...just not using one with the dial feature and having the dial feature in use.

 

[dvw]

I saw Indy -1 headed motors this weekend anywhere from 32-39.
Doug

 

[coloradodave]

This is what I use on my car that has an MSD6-AL box. Works great on 2 "D" cell batteries, so no need for battery hook-up:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1059-13

 

[malex]

So update: I checked my balancer and the 0 to 50 degree markings are correct. So I checked my timing tonight with 2 other lights, 3 in total including mine.

Using the balancer degrees all 3 lights showed that I was running 24 degrees total advance. One of the borrowed lights was non adjustable while the other one was the adjustable type.

I reset the timing using the balancer degrees and set it to 36 total. The engine woke up so to speak, sounds stronger, more crisp, more responsive. It fires right up when starting now, I was wondering if it was going to be hard starting given that the distributor is locked but not at all, starts better than ever.

The kicker to this is that with the re-adjusted timing I threw my adjustable light back on and it still reads 36 degrees with the dial, but now when I zero the dial it shows 36 degrees on the balancer. Damn light, good thing I did a check on it with the dial on 0 and at 36. A new light is on order just the same.

In all, the base of the distributor moved about 1/8 to 3/16" at the block. So a good lesson learned on this experience. Do not trust a dial type timing light. And to think that I've been running retarded timing all season. To date my best was 10.7 @ 125MPH at 24 degrees total timing. Rookie mistake.

 

[dvw]

Now we know where the mising power was. Next pass you better hold on.
Doug

 

[malex]

Now we know where the mising power was. Next pass you better hold on.
Doug

Exactly what I thought when I stumbled onto this... I don't dare mention it though because I don't want to jinx any possibilities.. We'll find out on the weekend.

One other thing that I corrected along the way and maybe other guys have experienced this. Whenever I would time my car I would have that occasional timing mark jump, or flutter, moreso on higher RPM. I corrected that my keeping my #1 spark plug wire separated from the others. I re-routed #1 wire, started it, back on with the light and the mark is rock steady now.