I swore by the old school feel for setting timing until a '98 Civic proved me wrong

For years I'd just listen for the engine ping and adjust the distributor by ear, thinking my hands knew best. Then this Civic rolled in with a persistent misfire, and after three tries with my method, a buddy loaned me his timing light. The light showed I was a full 8 degrees off spec, and fixing it cleared the code instantly. When did you all finally give up the 'by feel' method for a specific tool?

3 comments

3 Comments

coleman.jamie2mo ago

Wait, you were setting timing by ear on a 98 Civic? That car has an OBD2 port and a crank sensor. My mind is blown you even got it to run. I tried that once on a 90s Saturn and the computer just kept fighting me, pulling the timing right back. Modern engines really don't play that game.

ray_king2mo ago

Wait, you got a Saturn to even respond to timing changes? @coleman.jamie, those ECUs are locked down tight. On that Civic, you have to trick the computer by unplugging a specific connector to set base timing, otherwise it just does what it wants. Trying to adjust it while it's in full control is a complete waste of time. The engine might sound different for a second before the computer just fixes it.

hayes.tara2d ago

Funny you mention that, because I had the same fight with a '97 Camry until I found the jumper wire trick.