i have a 1990 honda civic with dual port 1.5l and my timing is off and no matter where i put the distributor its still off, i yanked the timing cover and checked the timing, there is the red mark and the white, the white lined up correctly with the up word up and the - - lined with head correctly or is the red supposed the be lined up and the - - with head? well that checked out of its the white could this mean i have a bad distributor? or in the chiltons says the distributor can be off a tooth? well there only one way it can go in so i dont know what they are talking about but i need help man its misfiring cuz the timings not correct !!! TY

 

ok to clear things up WHITE is tdc not red, so my timing belt is on correctly but then why can i not get the ignition timing set correctly? advanced or retarded either way i cannot get the red mark centered WTF?? bad dizzy? and yes i do have the jumper on

 

When the pointer aligns with the white line on the crank pulley, the crank is set at TDC1. At this moment, the cam pulley should also be positioned at TDC1. Post a picture of your cam pulley when the crank is positioned precisely at TDC1.

 

so i took a few pics, might be off but where do you want the white mark? in the middle of the V or the white and black each on a tip of the v? well the pics show it with the white dot in the middle of the V like this

 

First off you must install the test jumper to put the ECU in test mode before using a timing light. In normal operation mode, the ECU advances the timing by a variable amount. You set the "base" timing by defeating this feature.

Your last photo appears to be properly timed. You can only set the timing belt in plus or minus one tooth increments so if it is close but not exactly on the marks that is the best you can get.

You could also probe in cylinder 1 to see if the piston is really at TDC when the crank is on the white mark. If the key has been left out of the crank pulley, the marks will not correspond to actual engine position.

 

Make sure to turn the crank ONLY COUNTERCLOCKWISE when checking the mechanical timing.

While the lowermost photo shows the crank positioned perfectly at TDC1, I can't tell whether the cam is the same. At TDC1, the right and left marks on the cam gear should align with the top surface of the head and the arrow should point up. See diagram below:

 

well i put everything back together and got the timing to one of the yellow marks next to the red, runs great im not gonna worry but now there is a small ticking noise like a lifter more liek a diesel.... its not loud but its definetly there and i hate it im really disappointed did somethign too tight? valve cover? alternator belt too tight? wtf im pissed help me@!!!

 

Civic engines do not have valve lifters. The valve clearance needs to be adjusted manually every so many miles to compensate for wear. If the valves are too loose it will make ticking noise and almost sound like a diesel if it's really loose.

To do this you'd take the valve cover off and adjust the screws at the end of each rocker arm. It must be done with the engine completely cold. I think the clearance should be 0.010 inches but look it up to be sure. Do not set the valves too tight as it can cause damage.