adjusting your timing?

[randomtask37]

i think i need to adjust my timing.... a friend of mine pointed out that the engine kinda lags when u press the throttle. its like, you press the gas and it takes a half second before the rev's come. i just figured it was normal, but he got me in his car and tested it out and it was totaly different, much quicker. it made mine seem like it was lagging terrible long. well, he said i could fix it by adjusting the timing, and that it was fairly simple, but he didnt have time to really explain exactally how to do it. so i was wondering if any of you gearheads had any tips.

[modifiede30]

I don't think that you can do a whole lot to the timing of an e30 without jimmy rigging the crank gear. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that the only changes that could be made required either reprogramming of the ecu, or chipping the car, which only sets a new timing that is not adjustable.

[Jordan]

Buy a aftermarket chip.... it will advance your timing...

otherwise you have no means of adjusting your timing, other then a adjustable timing gear.

To get rid of the "lag" clean your injectors, adjust yout TB, get a new O2 sensor... such things like that should improve it.

[randomtask37]

ill trust u guys, but he mentioned something about toying with the distributor or something.
that ring a bell?

[Jordan]

ill trust u guys, but he mentioned something about toying with the distributor or something.
that ring a bell?

Your car isnt carb'ed.... and your friend doesnt seem to have a clue about m20's

m20's dont "really" have distributers. They have a rotor bolted directly to the camshaft, and then a distribution cap bolted over the rotor.

[randomtask37]

ok then!
yea, hes not a bmw guy. he has an h22 civic, hes a honda master, but he did pick up a few things from his dad who does alot of bmw work at his shop, and his mother used to own an e30 a while back.

[gstuning]

Ignition timing can be changed,

with a SMT6 at least

[grlaneriejr]

what engine do you have? M10, M20?
timing can be adjusted on the M10 engine by turning the distributor cap while checking timing mark on the flywheel.

[rwh11385]

Ignition timing can be changed,

with a SMT6 at least

is there a FAQ about tuning the M20 timing with the SMT6? how do you advance the timing without knocking?

[nando]

check your intake boot and any vaccum hoses for cracks. My intake boot had a dime sized hole on the bottom, cracks on the top and my vaccum hoses were screwed too. My engine revs much quicker now :)

[Rob]

he has an h22 civic, hes a honda master

thats your problem. The b- and h-series motors can actually pick up a few HP by advancing the timing a few degrees.

[Charlie]

First off, what sort of a car do you have? You can theoretically do some adjustment on an M10 motor, but otherwise, no. The m20 is an interesing mix of parts, it uses a "distributor", but not in a traditional sense. The spark is still controlled by the motoronic computer. Going to an aftermarket chip, or some form of engine managment would be the only way to adjust timing. There is no manual way.

-Charlie

[808BMW]

yea, hes not a bmw guy. he has an h22 civic, hes a honda master

Funny thing is at least 4 honda guys have told me to mess with my timing after hearing my car :P
I don't listen to them though.

[M-technik-3]

Early M20's had distributers. Mounted low on block and if wanted you can still mount one there. My 85 320i had one. A mega rust bucket but couldn't kill it so I gave it away.

[Jand3rson]

yea, hes not a bmw guy. he has an h22 civic, hes a honda master

Funny thing is at least 4 honda guys have told me to mess with my timing after hearing my car :P
I don't listen to them though.

I know, everyone always thought there was something wrong with my car because of the M20 valve tick. Usually after I told them it's a 12 valve straight six, they understood.