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DIY2

Alternative for Adjusting automobile timing.
  (+3, -8)(+3, -8)
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An alternative for Adjusting a car's engine timing can be considered if you do not have a timing light.

This will be the painfull alternative i would not recommend.And it can only be done in broad daylight or at night with a bright floodlight.

Step 1: Whilst engine is off, remove the No:1 Sprkplug wire from the sparkplug end.Make sure that you are bare footed and your body touches the metal of the car.

Step 2: Attach the end of the wire to your forehead between your eyes.

Step 3: Ask a friend to start the car while you are looking at the timing mark on the flywheel of the engine.

The power from the HV coil actually can shock you with the same frequency as the firing rate of your sparklpug.

Thus youe eyes will open and close at he same rate as the switched high voltage, enabling you to see the stroboscopic effect on the flywheel.

novaris, Mar 03 2008

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       I think the tears of extreme agony will make it very difficult to see anything [-].
Please, [novaris] try this, and report back to us how you got on.

sp. "painful", "I", "adjusting", "sparkplug", "your'", "the".
Welcome to the HB
coprocephalous, Mar 03 2008
  

       I have imagined it so deeply that i forgot how to spell.
novaris, Mar 03 2008
  

       I am glad that i can learn better grammar and spelling, it helps me with my English. thnx
novaris, Mar 03 2008
  

       uhmmmm........   

       yeah..........   

       uhmmmm.......   

       [MFD] bad science
jhomrighaus, Mar 03 2008
  

       I suspect you could get your eyes to blink in synch, but probably not more than a few times per second, which will probably be too slow.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 03 2008
  

       Perhaps it will cause your eyes to open rather than close, or your neck muscles, or jaw muscles etc. You cannot just stick the thing on your forehead and predict the outcome, further having been shocked more than a few times what normally occurs is not one set of muscles contracting but a sharp jolt and pain as well as momentary paralysis of the affected part as all the muscles flinch at the same moment. People who are electrocuted are normally paralyzed and unable to let go of whatever they touched in the first place. When training someone to respond to an electrocution incident they are taught to grab something non conductive and pry the victim off of the source of power. This of course is not really a problem with your typical car system as the amperage is far to small to be fatal or even debilitating, but it does hurt like hell.
jhomrighaus, Mar 03 2008
  

       It won't work, but the good news is that after this you won't care or be able to drive.
MisterQED, Mar 03 2008
  

       Heh, I think wasted spark systems would need additional practice. But + for making me chuckle while waiting in the dentist's reception.
Ling, Mar 03 2008
  

       Waste Spark systems are normally crank triggered and as such do not normally have any kind of timing marks.
jhomrighaus, Mar 03 2008
  

       Connecting the wires to LCD glasses might work better, but this is definitely funnier. +
ldischler, Mar 03 2008
  

       I wonder if it would be simpler to buy a timing light?   

       Getting shocked from testing a lawnmower spark plug is bad enough.
Zimmy, Mar 03 2008
  

       What's "Waste Spark"? Systems in which the spark occurs even on the exhaust stroke? (Like when cylinders share a coil?) If so, wouldn't it still fire at the same point in the rotation of the crank?   

       Off-topic: Anybody seen a timing light with an LED light source instead of Xenon strobe?
half, Mar 03 2008
  

       Waste Spark systems are generally identified by coil packs with 2 towers on them. When the coils fire they fire on both terminals at the same time, since the cylinder on the exhaust stroke is at a low pressure there is a very high effective resistance on the waste spark, while the charged cylinder has a very low effective resistance and produces a much stronger spark, since the voltage is fixed the amount of current depends on the amount of resistance, high resistance=low current and v/v.   

       The crank trigger is in the same location on the reluctor wheel as the 2 cylinders are both a the Top of their stroke(2 times for every full cycle of the cylinder), the TDC for the engine occurs when Cylinder 1 is at the Top of its stroke on the ignition stroke.
jhomrighaus, Mar 03 2008
  

       /I have imagined it so deeply that i forgot how to spell./   

       [marked-for-tagline]
bungston, Mar 03 2008
  

       Please please become a AAA member and find a reputable mechanic. Please stop opening the hood of your car an poking around before you do some real harm. This is not only a bad idea but it shows a dangerous lack of understanding of the mechanisms involved. If you must come up with a DIY timing light use a clip lead to form a gap near the timing marks the spark itself makes a fine strobe.
WcW, Mar 03 2008
  

       My reaction time isn't that fast, and I can't say "Ow" fast enough. I'm just wondering - if the "open" dwell time needs to be in the range of 1/50000 second (to give, like a strobe, a nice clear image of the timing mark), and the motion of the eyelid is 1/2 inch each direction, I get ..<mumble mutter><scratch head> er </sh></mm> an average eyelid speed of just a bit under Mach 4. Imagine what that would *sound* like. And how fast that kind of jack-hammer vibration would detach your retinas.   

       Horrible idea, but I may bun it yet, just for the giggles.
lurch, Mar 03 2008
  

       My car has a wasted spark system, a crank position sensor, AND timing check points on the crank pulley.
Ling, Mar 03 2008
  

       Checking timing at the crank is a good diagnostic even on crank triggered engine. You adjust the timing by moving the pickup. On my current car the timing is nowhere near the marks at idle and I must lock the timing on my ECU to check the calibration, then adjust the pickup.
WcW, Mar 04 2008
  
      
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