89metro xfi - 12 degree advance ??
 

ya... so i just hooked up the ol' timing gun and find that my 89 metro xfi is at 12 degrees advance!!

i put it at 8... but had no issues with it at 12.

what i wasn't sure is if the more advanced, the better? if so, i'll move it back to 12 (and then some).

otherwise, i'll go with 8 and see if i get ping.

thanks for the info!

That one has the vacuum advance on the distributor I think so to check timing you need to unhook those lines and plug them so the car will still idle.

If you didn't unhook them then 12 degrees is probably close. But I would still set it to around 8 degrees with the vac disconnected then when you plug it back in the timing will prob jump to around 15-18. I don't know of anyone that gets knock when they set the base timing to 8-10 but depending on driving style and stuff it is possible it will knock.

nope... no vacume hoses running to the distributor on this one. or are they located someplace else?

aside from the sparkplug wires there's only a couple other wires coming off of my distributor... one looks like it may be a ground, the other has some sort of connector on it and is pluged into something else. no hoses or anything to speak of otherwise.

i just checked it again, looks like i'm dialed in at 8 degrees advanced. is running great.

if i was running okay at 12 degrees... should i keep pushing it up until it starts to ping?

i'm quite the timing neophyte, so i've no idea if more is better here or if the 8 to 10 is the sweet spot with respect to mpg's.

thanks!

I've always gotten the best mileage from setting the timing by ear. Advance the timing until the pinging just barely happens under hard uphill acceleration. If you are not comfortable with even a slight ping under hard acceleration then just retard the timing a tiny bit.
I've also found that the engine will run a tiny bit cooler with the timing set this way. This helped me when I was driving in 100F heat with the A/C on. The engine would run at the upper limit of normal on the temp gauge. But with the timing advanced the temp would run a bit cooler.
If the engine 'bucks' when trying to start then you are way too far advanced.

More timing advance = more low end power usually. Its better for economy, or so Ive always though. More efficient burn.

I have my 1998 set at about 8 degrees advance for the best MPG and bottom end power.

Yes. Higher the better (until you get detonation/pinging). Increase timing lowers the torque range of your engine. Therefore it'll make a more power down low.

So go crank it back up to 12 degrees. :thumbup: