New found power via timing belt

[GeoffM]

Due to a leaking water pump I had to change my timing belt on Saturday.
The old one only had 35k on it, and looked brand new.
I have no idea if I did something wrong or not, but the engine is noticeably
stronger now.
I'm rather ecstatic and wanted to spread the word; Timing belt change = many horsepowers!

[SOHC-FTW]

Timing.

To add my yota was 30 degrees retarded when i got it advanced it to about 15 and ton's of miniature ponies came alive, barked 3rd the other day i was like WAT?

[GeoffM]

Timing.

It was spot on before. I haven't verified it again with my timing light though.
Thinking about it now, I didn't verify the balance shaft belt was spot on. I'm kind of worried about it.

[wildBill83]

Sounds advanced now though.

[wed3k]

It was spot on before. I haven't verified it again with my timing light though.
Thinking about it now, I didn't verify the balance shaft belt was spot on. I'm kind of worried about it.

you'd know if it was off

[GeoffM]

Timing is still dead on. I think I was about to have a seizure though.
My engine was cold so the idle was high. High idle = that light flashes faster.

[GeoffM]

you'd know if it was off

Even if my motor mounts were shit? It's either the balance belt or the mounts.

[wildBill83]

He means if the timing is off your valves will hit the piston and bend.

[Tippey764]

He means if the timing is off your valves will hit the piston and bend.

If you're a tooth off that won't happen

[GeoffM]

It'll just idle like shit and run like shit.
I was very careful to move the pulleys to TDC before I removed the belt.
I also am not 100% sure on how to time it so I didn't move them for that too.

[19dabeast85]

You want to check base timing with the engine warm and the ecu jumper plug jumped.

[reklipz]

You want to check base timing with the engine warm and the ecu jumper plug jumped.

Correct. You'll need a timing light to do this, preferably one that doesn't have an automatic advance, or one that you can turn the automatic advance feature off. The reason for that is that the timing lights with automatic advance need careful calibration, and are known to be off more often than not. It's just easier to not use one with automatic advance.

The reason you need the jumper plugged is so that the ECU doesn't interfere with the ignition timing, which it normally would do if the jumper was not plugged in. Under normal operation, the ECU performs what's called "timing advance," not to be confused with the "advance timing" function on some timing lights. The "timing advance" advances the ignition at higher RPM, because the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder burns at a more or less constant rate, and at higher RPM there is "less" time for it to burn when compared to lower RPM, so the ECU advances the ignition spark at high RPM to ensure proper fuel burn. Having this feature on while setting the base timing would wreak havoc and be very difficult.

Finally, you should check your base timing at two different RPM settings I believe. The manual should state at which two RPMs you should check. I believe the first is "idle", which I believe is 700 +/- 50 RPM.

[alb_accord]

how was the water pump pulley. last time i changed the water pump on my white ex, the pulley was hard to turn by hand. once the new pump was in, wow, that is all i thought at that moment lol.

[wildBill83]

If you're a tooth off that won't happen

If you are a tooth off your timing is advanced/retarded... I consider "off" timing as a non-running situation (valve interference).

[GeoffM]

You want to check base timing with the engine warm and the ecu jumper plug jumped.

I know. I made a video showing how to do it but my camera wouldn't catch the flashes.

Finally, you should check your base timing at two different RPM settings I believe. The manual should state at which two RPMs you should check. I believe the first is "idle", which I believe is 700 +/- 50 RPM.

How do you do that? Go have a friend hit the gas?

how was the water pump pulley. last time i changed the water pump on my white ex, the pulley was hard to turn by hand. once the new pump was in, wow, that is all i thought at that moment lol.

You want some resistance, but it's difficult to describe. You want fresh bearings resistance, not blown out bearings resistance. Water pumps are designed to leak out a weep hole when the bearing goes bad. Mine was OEM, so it wasn't too bad for lasting 20 years.

If you are a tooth off your timing is advanced/retarded... I consider "off" timing as a non-running situation (valve interference).

But if you're a tooth off, wouldn't it be too far off for the ecu to auto adjust?