ignition/cam timing

Wait a damn second.

You are using a z6 disty on the Y8 head?


Find a d15b7 disty to check out.


There's your problem!!

mattliston said:

Wait a damn second.

You are using a z6 disty on the Y8 head?


Find a d15b7 disty to check out.


There's your problem!!

Click to expand...

im using a B7 dizzy. that’s the problem. the slot on the cam is different

And you think that the 5° difference between 1 dist drive slot and the next is causing a 25° ignition timing retard?

Oldcivicjoe said:

And you think that the 5° difference between 1 dist drive slot and the next is causing a 25° ignition timing retard?

Click to expand...

well i haven’t measured it but i looks like 9.5 degrees (one tooth) which i believe would make it 19 degrees off on the crank

With no bolts in the distributor at all, can you ever adjust things to get ignition timing to line up at the crank? I'm curious how far off the bolt holes are when you hit your mark.

Not uncommon for people to cut entire dist ears off, or grind out slotted holes further to hit their marks.

drtalon123 said:

With no bolts in the distributor at all, can you ever adjust things to get ignition timing to line up at the crank? I'm curious how far off the bolt holes are when you hit your mark.

Not uncommon for people to cut entire dist ears off, or grind out slotted holes further to hit their marks.

Click to expand...

i have not tried that yet. i hope to avoid that because i want to keep the engine bay neat, and there is also the cyp issue with the b7 dizzy. i will definitely try that though

isnt 1 tooth 4.5* of timing?

well, it sounds more and more like it is off one tooth at the camgear.

Again, take the cap off the distributor, set the timing belt like I mentioned, one tooth over counterclockwise, and retime the engine.

slo_eg8 said:

isnt 1 tooth 4.5* of timing?

Click to expand...

one tooth is 9.5
the 4.75 is half a tooth. it is also the difference between obd1 and obd2 gears

mattliston said:

well, it sounds more and more like it is off one tooth at the camgear.

Again, take the cap off the distributor, set the timing belt like I mentioned, one tooth over counterclockwise, and retime the engine.

Click to expand...

so do you think my keyway could be off? it is an aftermarket cam so that is possible i guess

It is certainly possible.

Got an oem d16z6 or d16y8 cam to swap in?

For now, I would get your cam zero'd out as much as possible and verify it with a crank wheel. Make your marks when the cyl#1 valves are shut, as Im sure there is some overlap, find true center of the cam, and go from there.

You can print out a wheel and glue it to a piece of cardboard, and make your own as well.

mattliston said:

It is certainly possible.

Got an oem d16z6 or d16y8 cam to swap in?

Click to expand...

yeah i’ve got a y8 cam. but i would like to use this one because it is a turbo cam. i’m sure i would work fine with the y8.

The whole point is trouble shooting.

If the distributor gets significantly closer to where it is suppoed to be, then you know your custom cam is in need of a simple weld filler and recut of the disty groove

update: i was able to talk to the guy that bought the cam originally. he said the keyway is about 12* retarded. i jumped the gear 1 tooth forward and retarded it 2* (already advanced 4.75 because it’s a y8 gear). runs great.
now all that’s left is to get a wideband o2 sensor

Figured it was something to do with the cam timing, glad you got it sorted🍻 be nice to have another D on the road, showing the world what can be accomplished through compromise.

Goes back to the basics (even in my V8 days) of degreeing in the cam. Even the manufacturer specs can be off changing the baseline setting.

Sorry but due to ADHD/Autisism/etc it is something I can visualize in my head, but hard to type out. Esp. when I can think in SBC/SBF and try to explain in SOHC Honda....which they really aren't much different.

mattliston said:

If the distributor is NOT an OEM honda distributor, you will occasionally have mechanical timing that far off, the attention to detail just isnt there with the aftermarket brands.

Click to expand...

just wanted to give you some credit here mattliston
got it all figured out and working fine, but the distributor was still all the way advanced and it was really bothering me. i pulled it off and check the play in the shaft and the non OEM dizzy had a good amount of rotational play. i took the shaft out of my old dizzy (has old/bad sensors) and swapped the OEM shaft into the new dizzy. now i got timing perfect with the dizzy right in the middle of the slot

thanks everyone for the help!!!

i’ve never had a boosted car before and wow it’s awesome haha

You have directly experienced why people are so stubborn on the OEM distributor recommendations.

precision machining and quality control is what has been keeping them alive 30+ years later.

Your shaft swap is pretty much what most do, other than going in and gapping the sensors correctly if any issues had developed. Many times, the aftermarket distributors have play in the mounting, and not always set correctly.

Seems your setup is working just fine now though, so I wouldnt mess with it any more!