Free HP?

[98ACR]

I was wondering...

An old muscle car trick was to advance timing on the dist until it started to lightly ping under load, than back off by 5-10* It would net you signifigant gains on many cars. Has anyone ever done this on a Galant? And if so, what timing numbers work well on 87 octane? Also on the underhood spec sticker it says to set timing with the ignition something-or-other grounded. What exactly is it referring to?

I ask because to squeek past smog inspection this year, I dropped timing down to the deck, and I think I'm actually below the factory hp (I got outran by a freeking Grand Marquis!) So I know it can have the opposite effect, I was just wondering if anyone's tried this.

[Kalamidad]

i think you can't do that on the modern cars because of the much more electronic components on engines now. Plus the timing belt controls everything for you.

I could be wrong. I have heard about it on old muscle cars. But MOPAR are very different than today's cars.

[7G_Beater]

I would think the computer would try to make up for the timing changes... but I definitely could be wrong.

[4-G-rim]

Alot of modern day cars timing is controlled by the ECU. You could manually adjust the base timing for example on my GVR4 by messing with the CAS (Cam angle sensor) but you have to ground a special wire in the engine by for the ECU first beforehand. I believe you can adjust the base timing with modern day distributer ignition cars by doing the same thing but with the distributer...I though haven't done it myself.

[slwdwn3g]

with the ecu reflash cable you can get at mynesperformance.com and the program you can downlaod from ecureflash.org you can change the timing on the ecu with a reflash. check out club 3g.com in the performance thread look for ecu reflash post.

[DOHCstunr]

advancing base timing can help you with upper rpm power and some midrange. especially if you run higher octane fuels.
but it kills your bottom end.

and its got a great potential for disaster.

[peanotation]

you can definitely advance/retard timing by rotating the distributor. i wouldn't recomend doing it more than 3-4 degrees since you're playing with too much after that

[98ACR]

Ok, but back to one of my original questions:

What if anything do I need to I to ground out to properly adjust timing? I just cranked it back to pass emissions, and I've noticed a considerable decrease in power. I want my power back and if I can get a bit more so much the better!

[DOHCstunr]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(98ACR)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ok, but back to one of my original questions:

What if anything do I need to I to ground out to properly adjust timing? I just cranked it back to pass emissions, and I've noticed a considerable decrease in power. I want my power back and if I can get a bit more so much the better!</div>
i think the whole grpounding the ignition timing adjustment terminal is only for the 90-94 dohc motors and maybe the 95-99 ones.
i think all YOU really need to do, is get a timing light, and swipe some whiteout across the timing mark on the crank pulley. then you can adjust the base timing by turning the distributor. use the light to see exctly where you are timing wise.