Newbie Timing Questions, Enter at your own risk Options

[Zaish]

Bare with the terrible picture above.

After probing the forums I havnt found the most idiot proof answer to advancing your timing, or ecu diag.

Here is what i know:

Step 1. jump TE1 + E1 in your diag box
Step 2. start car
Step 3. loosen bolt a little bit and turn the distributer.
Step 4. Im lost here

So i perform step 1 and jump it with a paper clip, start my car and notice my check light is not there or is flashing any codes, altho my idle is so bad that it bounces at 100-300 rpm.
So i jump it with a wire while the car is running and while it isnt. Whats odd is the fact that when it isnt on I idle normal but the second i place it to jump my idle drops and my car acts like it is about to stall.

Ive read the manual made by Haynes and followed there steps but with the same above results, rough idle or check light stays on with no flash in ignition mode or it goes away for good when its on.

Still with me? Do i need to do step 1 if so anyone know the reason behind it? And by chance does anyone know what i may or maybe not doing correctly in jumping it.

So moving on to step 3.
From reading websites and the book it talks about loosening it enough to just turn the distributer. However when I loosen it it has no move either way unless i remove the bolt iteself. After its removal I am now able to turn it. On a side note I dont have a timing light at this point and I am about to get one but a friend mentioned that you can hear it enough to know when you are overdueing it. So with his help I turn it until my car sounds like it is about to die than turn it back counter a little so i am not near that max we hear, and it sounds like its running smooth enough. Like the picture above my distributer is now about that far from the main screwing point, so i am having to set it back in order to screw it in.

So i stroll more along the forum and books and on one of the forums i found someone talking about how cali celica have a different ecu + distributer. Anyone know if this is true ? And how do i find out if my car is cali spec?

What's wierd is the haynes book doesnt mention a difference and said the jumper should work along with the same loose and turn direction from other sources ive seen.

Only thing i could think of and please correct me is: Since the timing is on the ecu you jump it to sorta have acess to its code in timing after you turn it to the location of your desire you stop car remove jumper and it will save it on the ecu?

My engine is st204 and 5sfe on a 99 celica.
Well youve survived my babble I hope you got the jest of it and your able to help me out.

[DrAg1n320]

haha, man o man, first thing's first, you NEED A timing light. the reason why the engine idle's real rough when you put in the paper clip is because you've set the ecu to go into learn mode basically. Once you get the timing light hooked up, aim it towards the crank and then you'll be able to advance the timing accordingly to the timing cover and there you go. And yes, as long as you car has a distrubutor, it is adjustable.