nismo619

so far i have read all the z car books i have found... haynes ... chilitons... but still nothing i have looked back and looked underneath the hood for the Top dead center line on the crank shaft.. i set it to what the 1981 280zxt turbo hood said 20*tdc ...

i took off the oil pump and oil shaft then the distributor... i set the dissy to number 1 spark plug ...

Still nothing.. i had better luck at 30*tdc and set dissy to number 6 spark plug.


does any body who has set there timing on there 82 -83 turbos.... have any advice to directings on how to help me ?


I dont want to spend 75 dollars to take the car to the nissan dealership.

i would rather spend it on parts to fix up the car.. u know.

jfairladyz

The way you described is how I set my distributor up. From there I set the initial to 20 degrees using a timing light.

Whats the problem? You cant get it to start? Whats the firing order you have your plug wires in on the dizzy?

nismo619

the darn car would start with 30*tdc and timing set at number 6 spark.. but i would have to hold down the gas petal just to keep the car running. but then again i dont have a timimg light.. sigh such little money not enouigh time to work on the car... the spark timing is set the same as my 82 280zxt so its perfect trust me on that one.. any body else have any other ideas ? j fairlady z.. can u describ excatly how u set your timing? like step by step... maybe that will help me out more.

NismoPick

How do you know the timing is set perfect, if it's not running & you don't have a timing light? How can you even properly set timing w/o a timing light? AutoZone/Checker should be able to rent you one, or go borrow one from a neighbor.

Before you do anything else, get a timing light.

jfairladyz

Hell a cheap initial timing light will only run you $20 or less. And thats really all most people need.

I set the engine to TDC on compression. I then put the engine to to the 20 degree mark on the timing plate at the front of the engine. Then I installed my oil pump/shaft so that the rotor would line up with #1 on the distributor cap when everything was installed. I then started the car, hooked up a timing light and proceeded to set the timing. And even though I set the mark at 20degrees the timing was NOT at 20degrees because the distributor housing moves, so dont go by that. USE A TIMING LIGHT. And if it runs while you have your foot in it then chances are it's just too retarded and it needs to be advanced)

Disconnecting the TPS while setting the timing is kind of up in the air for me. I've tried it both ways and neither was any different for me. I did have to adjust the idle speed depending on whether I set the timing with the TPS connected or disconnected, but that was the only difference I saw.

ASA240z

Wait, you dont have the money to buy a timing gun, yet you were more than willing to fork up 200+ dollars for a questionable turbo on ebay? Somethings wrong here...

nismo619

Help ! i set the timming to top dead center 16* before Zero.. i set the dizzy to spark plug one buy useing the little hole on the rotor and the hole straight threw the number one spark plug ontop of the CAP.. it still starts and runs, but it only stays running when i have the gas petal half way to the floor.. i advanced the dizzy all the way... so i must back the timing up or back ? im thinking about taking it to 12* before zero.. sigh... does any body with a stock 280zx turbo have the numbers on the hood ? that tells what the timing is supose to be on a 1983 280zx turbo ? 5 speed ? i found out that information in the haynes manual....

p.s. i said i wanted the turbo.. like i had the money was anotehr thing... ASA240

NismoPick

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread...479#post676479

nismo619

Thanks nismopick some times i forget were and what i put on fourums. anyways hybrid z really helped me out thouse people know alot about z cars. Im gonna set the timing to 12* BTC and reset the iggy timing today wish me luck nismopick.. Hey.. nismopick let me borrow your timing gun ? im gonna call over superman with his x ray vision and use him for my timing gun.. LOL anywyas ill let every one know how it goes thank, Ken

p.s. thank to every body at zdriver.com for trying to help me out on my z cars !

jfairladyz

12 is too low. The car will run like **** if at all. You have to take into account that at idle there is very little compression in the cylinders which means very little power production. There is a reason the FSM calls for 20+ degrees of timing on the turbo engines. If the car is not idling with the timing in the correct ballpark then either your firing order is not correct, you didnt actually set the timing correctly, or your problem lies outside the ignition system (vacuum leaks are a major cause of cars that wont idle but otherwise will run).

And for the love of Pete, GET A DAMN TIMING LIGHT ALREADY !!!!!!!!!!

nismo619

i got a timing light and the car is still doing the same thing.. i did a compression check and dry test is 120 across the bored but a wet tests says 160 150 across the 6 cyclendars... what do yall think?

jfairladyz

If by wet I assume you mean you put oil in the cylinders? If that helps that usually indicates bad rings. But if the car hasn't been run for a significant amount of time for a while then it could just mean that your cylinder walls are dry. Build up some good oil pressure then run a compression test without putting oil in the cylinders and see what you get (make sure all the oil is out of the cylinder first).

When you checked the timing with the light, what was the timing set at according to the light?