1998 Honda Civic 1.6L Ignition Timing Not Aligning

Hmmmm?

When you watch the video, the crankshaft is being turned clockwise.

Tester

Which is the right way ?

The fellow in the video is doing it wrong for a 1998 Honda Civic. When the engine is cranking or running, the big pulley (and crankshaft) turn counterclockwise. Thatā€™s the direction you should turn it by hand.

Look at the pictures of the timing belt in place. Its left side is a straight shot from camshaft pulley down to the small pulley behind the big pulley. You want the pull to be via that straight shot, which only happens in counterclockwise motion of the crankshaft/big pulley/harmonic balancer/timing belt toothed pulley behind the big pulley.

IIRC from doing this a couple months ago: after installing the belt, and before tightening the tensioner pulley in place, turn the big pulley by hand counterclockwise 2 turns then check that timing marks up top and down below are still OK. If so, tighten the tensioner pulleyā€™s bolt to spec.

I am away from my Haynes and the instruction sheet that came with my timing belt kit, and able to take correction if called for.

The fact that the Honda engine turns counterclockwise means you may need a special tool to hold the big pulley in place while you unscrew, counterclockwise, the big bolt that holds it on, at major (130 foot-pounds?) torque. And need it again to tighten the big bolt.

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Iā€™m guessing from what you say above youā€™ve already installed the timing belt correctly. A timing belt alignment just isnā€™t that difficult when you only have to deal with one crank pulley and one camshaft pulley. I think the problem may be that you are not checking the ignition timing correctly. And the reason is the timing light you are using. I presume you have a timing light with an ā€˜advance/retardā€™ knob on it, right? Thatā€™s why you ask above if the timing light should be set to 12 degrees. The problem is that the instructions to check the ignition timing probably assume you only have a basic timing light, one with no advance/retard knob. So it is always set to 0 degrees; i.e. it lights up at exactly the time the number one spark plug fires. With that type of timing light, which is the type most diyā€™ers have, with the engine idling you shine the timing light to align two marks the manufacturer provides, one on the crank pulley, and one thatā€™s stationary, attached to the engine. When those marks align, the timing is automatically set at 12 degrees btdc. When you set your timing light to 12 degrees that wonā€™t work, and I think that is what is confusing you.

I have a snap on timing gun it umm basically digital. I set it to 12 and line up the distributor to the red mark in the pully.

What your saying I should leave the gun at 0 and line it up with the red mark ?

This is the thing I use. image

Suggest to let someone here who has actually done ignition timing on your engine weigh in on this. Iā€™m not familiar with that timing light, nor which marks mean what on your engine; but I do expect that timing light setting is where the confusion is happening. You might try what you did before, but this time setting the timing light at 0 degrees, see if Hondaā€™s ignition timing check directions make more sense then.

On my Corolla I just align the marks as shown in the manual using a 0 degree (no advance/retard function) timing light. I verify while doing that that Iā€™m able to move the marks a little past or a little before the correct alignment by turning the distributor. Then I briefly bump the rpm and verify the timing advances from the idle setting.

Iā€™m not willing to assume that. The marks might be lined up at bottom dead center rather than top dead center. It could be an ignition issue or one of a dozen other issues.

The OP thinks he is going to learn something from this experience, but this is a 20 year old car and he is trying to diagnose it based on assumptions from people who havenā€™t even seen the car.

Unless the OP is willing to let this car sit in his driveway for the foreseeable future, he needs to employ a professional automotive diagnostician to figure out what is wrong with the car, because what is wrong with a 20 year old car might have no relation to the timing belt at all.

This isnā€™t a learning experience, itā€™s an exercise in futility. There is no logic to this exercise. Itā€™s all just a vast waste of time, because even with our help, the OP doesnā€™t have the skill set to figure out what is wrong and fix it.

What if itā€™s not a timing issue? This car has automatically adjusting ignition timing, so if the timing is the issue, something is malfunctioning that canā€™t be solved with a timing light and a screwdriver. It could be something as simple as the replacement distributor being installed incorrectly, or even the spark plug wires being connected in the wrong order.

The problem here is that the OP doesnā€™t have the right mindset. He is making assumptions about work he has already done, refusing to consider that his previous work might be the issue. Any one of the parts the OP has installed might be defective. Any one of the parts the OP installed might have been installed incorrectly. Something unrelated to the work the OP has done might be broken or malfunctioning, but as long as the OP is working based on what might be faulty assumptions, this car is going to sit.

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What rotor are you talking about? The rotor in the distributor ?

I misspoke. Iā€™ve corrected what I said from rotor to distributor.

But the distributor canā€™t be in installed incorrectly. image

It has two pins that have to be enter the back of camshaft

Can a vaccum leak cause my ignition timing to be off ?

Can it cause low idle too if itā€™s small because I think a decent size vaccum can cause check engine and idle to surge but only problem with my car is low idle and igniting timing being off

A vacuum leak would normally result in the idle rpm being too high, rather than too low. Whatā€™s your intake manifold vacuum reading at idle? Should be 17 in hg or greater. Less than 17 indicates a possible vacuum leak.

Hereā€™s some info I found about this engine, fyi OP.

Ignition timing varies by

  • engine rpm
  • air flow
  • coolant temp
  • fuel octane

To check the timing thereā€™s a setup involving the SCCS connector. Next, thereā€™s two marks on the crank pulley, one red and one white. And a pointer attached to the engine timing belt cover. The white mark corresponds to tdc, the red to 12 dbtc (or 16 if you have that version of the engine). With your timing light knob set to zero degrees, (or with the type of timing light most of us diyā€™ers use without the advance/retard knob), the pointer should line up with the red mark at idle rpm, warm engine. If you dialed in 12 degrees advance on your hi-tech timing light, then the pointer should line up with the white mark.

Thank you so I set my timing gun to 0 and line the red mark to the pointer?

Yes. Thatā€™s what the info I found says.

When Iā€™m doing that job, I paint more readily seen marks at the corresponding points using an office product called ā€œwhite-outā€. Makes it easier to see.

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Thank you, i been trying to fix this problem for a while and itā€™s frustrating. My engine is D16Y7 image

Thanks for your help and patience and everything guys. I wish I could take it to shop but Iā€™m low on money. I could if I would on the spot but hopefully me and my mechanic dad can fix it.

The d16dy 5, 7, and 8 are set at 12 degrees btdc. b16a2 is set at 16 degrees.

But that is for the timing TDC no ? To get the ignition timing itā€™s 0 ?

You guys think I can have a bad tps ? That is malfunctioning but doesnā€™t throw a code?

I also saw that the wires on the tps sensor are a bit ripped. Like you can see the the inside of some of the wires. Could be causing a shortage. Like crashing.
Because my car idles better with the lights on, or the a/c on the idle go up if I turn on the lights.