If there's a lot of rust on the pulley, you may need to take some steel wool to it to reveal the marks.

 

oh duh, i was looking on the belt itself. i will try this again in the morning. i did a google search earlier for more info and someone said they had a slight knocking in their engine that went away with a timing adjustment, but said poor timing likely severely damaged his engine. is that true that timing can really screw up your engine? i also have a light knocking and it doesn't go away when the engine warms up...

 

Ok, I think I got it timed right. It took a while cause it seems like the marks are only visible every 10th flash... not sure if it's cause I bought the cheapest timing light or what. Could someone give me some feedback? The first picture is how the timing was set before. The second picture is the timing after (it's not perfect, it's a hair to the right of the mark, but I'm not sure if perfect is possible? It's pretty damn close though). Here's some photos from the timing DIY that I doctored.

Before:



After:



I'm kinda curious if there could be any potential damage to the engine by running it in its previoius timing settings, and if it's realistic to assume the previous timing could have had something to do with my poor fuel economy. Since I've changed it, it seems like the engine isn't as sluggish. I just filled it with gas again too, so I'll see if I can break the 25mpg mark... my previous tank only got 20mpg

 

FYI, you're suppose to line up the notch in the timing belt cover, the pointer sticking out of the timing belt cover, and the timing markings on the pulley.

you jumped the service connector under the dash, right?

 

I think that's what I did. There's a plastic fork sticking out of the timing belt cover that looks like the one in the picture, only much much cleaner. I attempted to stare straight down and align the marks. This is correct, yes? I did also jumper the connector under the dash (black and brown wires running to the connector with two holes; my check engine light was flashing afterwards, and my SRS light was on solid). Adjusted the timing, tightened the distributor, readjusted, retighted, did that a couple times until I got the red line (the center of the three lines) to line up with the center of the fork as much as possible. Pulled out the jumper and checked my timing one more time, and it looked the same. I did all of this after warming up the engine enough to make the radiator fan kick on. Does this all sound correct?

Any comments on whether my engine could be hurt from the previous timing, or if I could possibly expect better gas mileage?

Thank you a ton!

 

sounds like you got it right then
and yea, it should help with gas mileage to have the timing set to specs
i don't think you would damage the engine the way it was before

 

It's a three step process, involving the timing belt cover site (encircled in yellow), the metal block pointer (below site seen in your picture), and the red mark on the pulley. All three must be aligned to get proper timing. Your timing is off because you don't have the site aligned with the pointer and the red mark simultaneously.

The blinking CEL indicates a trouble code. Read it.

The engine may be misfiring if only 1/10 flashes illuminates the timing light.

 

Ok wait a sec. The check engine light is flashing because of trouble? It only started flashing when I jumpered the connector under my dash. The flash was sorta sporadic, but it stopped when I un-jumpered the connectors. That said, do I still need to get the CEL read if it's not lit anymore?

As far as the timing, I didn't realize there was a third marker that I need to align with. I will recheck this. I still haven't ordered my new plug wires, rotor, and distributor cap cause I can't afford it at the second, though it is top priority. I did change the spark plugs though because I could get the exact NGK plugs from a local auto store for cheap. You think it's misfiring though? I did have to wait patiently to catch a glimpse of the timing markers... I'm no good at this stuff, lol, I think I'm learning though...

 

Reading the ignition timing is like aiming a rifle at a target. Adjust the timing correctly as I mentioned earlier. In reality, the ignition system must be functioning properly to set the timing, so you should do the tune up ASAP. This is underscored by the suggestion that the engine is misfiring.

Yes, with the service connector jumped and the key turned to ON(II), read the blinking pattern to determine the code or codes thrown (see link in my signature).

 

Gosh, I feel like such a knucklehead. I figured the check engine light would come on on its own if there were a problem. Ok, here's my codes:

45 Fuel system too rich or lean
73 random misfire cylinder 3
74 random misfire cylinder 4

I'm crossing my fingers that these are likely addressable by new plug wires / distributor cap / rotor. As it is, I'm already in checking account overdraft land, lol. What should I do?