Adjusting the ignition timing...., WTF? I turned the distributor all the way and its still only 5degrees Options

[king_wsk]

Today me and my friend (who drives a 92 celica GT) went to advance our timing to try and squeeze a few extra hp out of them. His timing was at 12 degrees (cause he already tried to advance it by just moving it without a timing gun) so we moved it to 14 degree with no problem. The stock setting is 10 degrees and with 91 octane fuel, 14 runs well with no pinging.

Now when we went to first check my timing.... I found it was at 0 degrees!!!!! I didn't believe it at first so I tried turning the distributor back down to -5 degrees and then advanced it as far as it would go... only 5 degrees!!!! My car only has 89 octane in it and after advancing it a bit, the engine seemed to run quieter and smoother. I did notice that more torque at 4300rpm (which usually comes at 4700rpm).

How do you get the timing to at least 10 degrees? I've heard that you can remove the distributor and then install it at an angle and then turn it to the mounting position, that should change the range of adjustment from -5 to 5 degrees, to 5 degrees to 15 degrees.

Any one ever seen this before?

Also.... What kind of gas milage do you guys see? I'm currently running at about 19mpg street and 22 highway..... i think thats kind of low.....Maybe because I'm running at 0 degree.... 10 degrees retarted!

This post has been edited by king_wsk: Jan 9, 2007 - 1:55 AM

[king_wsk]

This car actually isn't from CA... I bought it from a girl who just moved from New Jersey...it didn't even have a front license plate mount. I was able to gain the 5 degrees from rotating the distributor, so I'm sure thats how its done.

If my timing belt is a tooth off, then I would notice some serious idle issues... which I don't. even with the TE1 and E1 jumped, it idles smoothly at around 550-600 rpm. Normal idle is around 725rpm and is very smooth. I'll take your advice Bitter and check the alignment of the other marks on the cam and crank when I get a chance.

I still haven't had a change to take off the distributor and look at it (due to heavy work schedule), but I'll do it tommorrow hopefully, unless you guys think that's a waste of my time and I should look at reseating the timing belt. The belt was changed 25k ago and still looks like its in great condition.

This post has been edited by king_wsk: Jan 9, 2007 - 6:13 PM