How to set timing using a TIMING LIGHT

Timing light: Timing light: amzn.to/2MocYa9

Setting up your ignition timing correctly is extremely important in order to have your car running properly. If your ignition timing is not set right your car will not be making the power or the mpg it should.

If you have an older engine that uses a distributor the only way to accurately set ignition timing is with a timing light / timing gun. Timing lights can be bought anywhere and are fairly inexpensive, ranging from 15$ to 100$ for high-end professional timing lights. However, the average car guy /car enthusiast will be able to make do with even a very basic unit.

Hooking up a timing light is easy. Every timing light consists of the same basic components. Two clamps which connect to the positive and negative sides of your battery. A timing light also has an inductive clamp which is clamped onto the number one spark plug wire on your engine. After this you are ready to fire up your engine and aim your timing light at your timing marks.

Setting your ignition timing is also easy and you do this by loosening any bolt(s) that hold down the distributor, and as you are looking at the timing marks on your engine you rotate the distributor until you reach the ignition timing specified by the manufacturer.

Specific timing procedure the 4A-GE 16V Toyota engine
This same general procedure for setting ignition timing is the same for a Toyota 4age engine, but there are few preconditions to be met before setting the timing on the 4age.

First of all your engine needs to be at its operating temperature before you start to set your ignition timing. The second pre-condition is bridging the E1 and T terminals in your diagnostic plug. After this you can proceed to set the ignition timing on your 4age engine by hooking up the timing light as described above.
The 4age needs to run at 10 degrees advanced, i.e. before top dead center, with the above pre-conditions met.

There are three ways that you can set the timing on your 4age engine depending on which car your engine is / comes from. In the video I show you three different methods to set the ignition timing on a 4age. First is by looking at the single notch on the crank pulley and aligning it against the timing marks on the plastic timing belt cover. This is the case in the Corolla, Fx16, Celica and other 4age powered Toyota cars where the engine sits in the front. You set the timing by looking at the needle pointer and three timing notches on the crank pulley in case of the MR2 aw11, where the engine is in the back. There is an alternative method to set the ignition timing on the 4age in case none of your timing marks is visible and that is by looking at the cam pulleys. Watch the video to see how.

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