'84 timing question

[silver84]

Car has a miss at idle, high idle, etc. I found a dark brown wire with black stripe, that had a black connection, and unhooked it. It was hopefully the right one, easy too find out in the open. Hooked up the timing light and wallah....the mark is about a quarter inch in front of where the scale starts. Is this bad? I assume you can loosen the dist. hold down bolt and twist it a bit to get it back in shape (by sound).

As you can probably tell, I need some advice here!

Thanks

 

[Bonefish]

I believe the correct timing for an 84 is 6 degrees before top dead center with that wire disconnected.

Read this.

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticles/4688/

 

[geekinavette]

Yep, factory spec is 6 deg BTDC...with the EST bypass connector unplugged. The connector for the EST bypass is in the brake booster area.

What I usually do is get the engine positioned so that I can see the timing marks, and use some white-out or something similar and "paint" the 6 deg BTDC mark, as well as the mark on the pointer. They will really show up under the timing light then. Crank 'er up, loosen up the dist. hold-down and turn it 'til the lines line up under the timing light (with the EST bypass unplugged of course).

Also, when you disconnect the EST bypass with the engine running the CHECK ENGINE light should turn on.

 

[silver84]

Thanks guys! Also, what is the best way to get at the "hold down bolt". Should I buy a cheap wrench and bend it or something??

 

[oldace84]

Did you check what shape your harmonic balancer is in????
Has it slipped?????
Check this OK???
tony

 

[silver84]

I brought the timing back to 6 degrees as said and she cleared right up! Whew! I wasn't sure how to check my balancer to see if it had slipped. Makes me wonder why my timing was so far off.

Thanks for everyones help!