Setting the Timing on my 85 tercel 4wd

[emmahumpfritter]

Hello Everyone,

I brought home an blue 85 (non-SR5) from California last week. I believe the timing is in need to being set, but please allow me to discribe how this particular tercel runs.

It has what I'd call a "hiccup" while accelarating. It feels to me the timing is retarded, I went to advance it and found the adjustment is maxed out in that direction. Q: does the tercel have a disty that can be lined up tooth by tooth, or is it 180 degrees (I hope that question makes sense) Asked another way, can I pull the disty out and reallign a couple teeth to get some adjustment again?

Once I get this figured out, what to a disconnect, block off or generally alter to get the timing correct?

I used the search function here and didn't find a clear explaination of the job.

Thanks,
Brenton

[Highlander]

The dizzy is a tooth by tooth, there's nothing else hooked to it (like an oil pump or whatever). When timing, pull and plug the vac hoses that go to the dizzy, set the timing at 5-10°BTDC (advanced), then reattach the vacuum lines. Before you start the car to time it, wipe off the timing marks , check the FSM for which is which, and try to make them as visible as possible, you don't want to guess at which is which. The vac lines are usually in such a state that its easy to tell where to replace them, but it helps to mark them in some manner ( or place them in a certain order). You might also check them to see if they are cracked on the ends before putting them back onto the dizzy.

[keith]

Go to Repair Guides and look for my new post called "Ignition Timing". I have gone through this procedure several times here so I took the reply that I think was my best, add a little more information and created a new post in repair guides. I hope this works for you.

[emmahumpfritter]

Thank you. I'll report back with results.