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by fiyahblaze on February 19th, 2006

fiyahblaze

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How can I set the timing on any car manually, without the use of a timing light or other tools?

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Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on June 30th, 2008

    Anonymous

    you can disconnect a vacuum line, put your finger on it as if to block it's passage and feel for the strongest point in the suction. that's the closest to being set and timed. you can also listen for pinging, if you hear pinging back the timing off.

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  • by Anonymous on March 9th, 2008

    Anonymous

    The old shade tree mechanic way to do it is to take the distritor cap off, hand crank the engine so to #1 cyl is at TDC, then make sure the rotor/cap is aligned at #1. We use it in the shop to set timing when the light is out in the field. This will set the timing on older cars/trucks, if you have anything with a computer it probably won't work, we only work on 70's and older at the resto shop so things are much simplier.

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  • by Anonymous on February 19th, 2006

    Anonymous

    Short answer: You can't.

    Longer answer:

    I assume we're talking about ignition timing.

    On most modern cars, the ignition timing is controlled by the PCM (the computer that controls the engine and powertrain) and is not adjustable.

    On those cars where the ignition timing is adjustable, certain tools are required to do so. At the very least, you need a wrench to loosen and adjust the distributor; and a timing light in order to see how the timing is set.

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  • by gmo123 on August 18th, 2009

    gmo123

    thanks guys

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