Questions and Answers
Timing Marks
Q. Hello Mr. Vincent! Was searching the web for auto maintenance information and came to the definitive resource... About.com!
Read about you and I feel you are just the right person after reading your bio! Very impressive actually.
I have a few technical queries for which I could not find any help after searching on the web! If you can help.. your help will be appreciated.
I wanted to know as to what do the numbers on the timing adjust belt mean? I got numbers from 0 to 20 on my car. My cars manual says ignition timing is to be set to 6 degrees BTDC. So to set timing do I have to align the mark to 6 on this 0 to 20 scale on the belt? Also I wanted to know as to how much do I need to advance the timing to run my car on CNG?
Thank you for your time and help... and best wishes!
Stay well.
Sendhil.A. Gee such high praise. I hope I can live up to it. Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I do make every effort to bring people the very best possible information I can.
I'm assuming you mean the marks on the crankshaft pulley. These are the marks you use to adjust the base timing. Some car makers use 5 degree increments and others may use 2 degree increments.
You are correct about lining up the marks. The 6 degree mark should line up with the pointer. If you have a timing advance light, you can dial in the 6 degrees and just line up the zero mark and pointer. This is what I do.
Before you try to adjust the timing, you should consult the appropriate service manual or read the engine decal for the proper procedure. Very often you need to disable certain sensors or inputs to accurately set the base timing.
As far as setting the timing to use CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), I'm afraid I have to disappoint you on that. I have never tried to do a conversion like that and thereby have no experience in that area. There is a lot of information at the Alternative Fuels Data Center that should be able to answer most of the questions you have about using CNG.
