TBI 454 Timing Questions

[grampadirt]

Good deal,glad you got it figured out.On another note there is a wrench made specifically to loosen that distributor bolt....I've had mine for eons

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[Schurkey]

there is a wrench made specifically to loosen that distributor bolt.

There's two dozen or more "distributor wrenches" made for various hex-sizes in different applications. The one you posted covers most applications--9/16" and 1/2" in various chassis.

But The Tool Truck Guy will be happy to sell you more-specialized ones, metric ones, etc.

I bought a fistfull of 'em off of eBay, at greatly discounted prices. There's about 400 listings for "Distributor Wrench" right now.

 

[DerekTheGreat]

I bought one of them there "GM Distributor Wrenches". Got frustrated with the one I bought, tossed it out onto my driveway and then used my 10 remaining brain cells to brainstorm a solution. Eventually a light illuminated in my head, maybe 10 watts worth, but a solution was at hand: A crow's foot end, swivel socket thing and an extension is what came to me. Works and I already had those tools on hand. The dizzy wrench now collects dust & rust.

 

[BBslider001]

Just ordered one. I guess we will see. All of my crows foot are in storage since so just pulled my tools out of my bay at my last job. Damn the timing.

 

[BBslider001]

I guess my real question is...do I need to mess with it? Do most of you guys advance or just leave it at factory specs? Mine is so close that I cant see the benefit of moving it 1*

 

[Schurkey]

I'd consider advancing it a couple degrees more than spec. Use the scan tool to verify no excessive knock counts.

 

[grampadirt]

I've had a few big blocks and every one responded well to 2°-4° advanced,they seemed a little more ''perky'' off the line.And yes I checked the knock counts(Tuner Pro RT)and there were a couple maybe a few but not many.

 

[BBslider001]

Well by my calcs and timing light read yesterday, it sits at about 3*. I ordered a dizzy tool, so I may try again this weekend of the weather holds. Appreciate you guys.

 

[Mh0263718]

Yes, unplug it, fire it up and check the timing. Be sure the engine is at operating temperature. To adjust, loosen the distributor and tweak it to the left or right as needed- usually doesn't take much. Have fun with getting it just right at 0 degrees. Seems when I go to tighten them back down the timing moves ever so slightly. Trick seems to be to leave the dizzy tight enough such that it takes a bit of effort to move it by hand. Advancing the timing beyond factory spec never did anything for me performance wise. Matter of fact, it just showed up more frequently as knock counts on my scanner. When the ECM detects knock, it retards timing. So while I had my truck that way I was probably down horse power.

After we check timing , do we turn ignition off and then connect the wire back ? Or can we connect it while ignition on just clarifying

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

After we check timing , do we turn ignition off and then connect the wire back ? Or can we connect it while ignition on just clarifying

After setting your timing, you should turn it off, disconnect the battery to reset any codes, hook up the EST bypass wire, and start it up. You're good to go!