timing light

[truckguy]

How does a timing light work? I think the timing in my b2 is off and i want to get it fixed. any help is appreciated
thanks

 

[adsm08]

Hook the alligators to the battery, hook the clamp around plug wire #1, pull the Spout connector near the intake, start it, and point it at the crank dampener.

 

[DarkMax]

Hook the alligators to the battery, hook the clamp around plug wire #1, pull the Spout connector near the intake, start it, and point it at the crank dampener.

This is correct but its missing a few key points.
Hook up the alligators to the battery if it comes with it, some have batteries.
There is a funky clamp that looks like it goes around a spark plug wire- put it as close as you can to the #1 spark plug on the wire.
If you know its out of timing, take a distributor wrench and loosen the dogbone on the distributor slightly so you can rotate it.
Mark the harmonic balancer where there is a notch with a white paint pen or white out- along with the preferred timing mark(it varies for vehicles, look it up and mark it at the appropriate spot on the timing plate(above the harmonic balancer))
Disconnect the vacuum line going from the carb to the distributor and CAP OFF the carb side of the vacuum so you dont have a vacuum leak.
Start vehicle, hold light so you can see the timing mark, and turn the light on.
If the mark on the balancer lines up with the mark on the timing plate-you are good-put it all back together.
If the mark is off, have a friend rotate the distributor slowly untill it lines up perfectly.
Turn off the car, tighten the dogbone bolt for the distributor(dont rotate the distributor or it will go out of timing).
Put everything else back together.


A few hints-
If the car runs worse, you set it at the wrong timing mark.
If you turn the car off, and turn it back on and its off timing again, you disconnected the wrong vacuum line.
A few of the later style carb engines(84 vette) have a wire that you disconnect instead of a vacuum line. Make sure you know which wire it is.

 

[robertc1024]

What he said. The clamp over the #1 wire is an inductive pickup that causes a high speed light (like a strobe light) in the "pistol" to flash. When you point it at the alignment mark on the harmonic balancer, it looks like a still picture of where the crank is relative to the timing peg. You just have to rotate the distributor until you get the timing where you want.

 

[adsm08]

If you turn the car off, and turn it back on and its off timing again, you disconnected the wrong vacuum line.

What vac line? He has an 86 B2, that's a 2.9. There is no vac line that needs to be taken off. Its a spout connector.

 

[DarkMax]

I havent ever worked on a bronco, so i assumed it was vacuum adjusted. I also said some of the later style carb engines use a wire connector also called a spout connector, didnt know that. This was just a general postup of how to use a timing light.

 

[truckguy]

thanks for all the help. once i set the timing wont i have to set the valves according to the new timing?

 

[LIMA BEAN]

Make sure the the inductive pick-up clamp has the arrow pointing the correct direction, towards the spark plug and dont let the wire get burnt on the exhaust mani. or the others tangled up in the fan/pullys/belts. No the valves have nothing to do with what your doing, they are timed by the cam via the timing belt to the crankshaft.