Well, it's time to stop screwing around trying to tune my 400G by ear. Can anybody recommend a good dial-back timing light and maybe supply a few tips on using it?


Thanks, guys.

 

I have an old Craftsman from 40 years ago. You can go from inexpensive up to hi $$$$.

 

Thanks for that.

I'm guessing your Craftsman won't be a dial-back. I think that's going to be what I want so I don't have to mess around with tape. I need something that's fairly idiotproof. I know the prices are all over the map so I'm kind of trying to figure out which features are most useful and which I can do without.

Thanks for any input.

 

It is a dial back, looks very similar to this one. You can find them all over ebay Craftsman 2134. Inexpensive and accurate.

 

Excellent. I'll take a look. Thanks!

 

Sunpro also makes a dial back. Mine has worked for 20 years.

 

I have a snap on one with the digital tach. Bought it used for 125. very nice to have the tach on the timing light too.

 

Yeah, that would be a bonus, wouldn't it? Thanks for pointing that out.

 

Thanks, Dave!

 

I prefer my simple old Craftsman with 1 function over my new Snap-On, and all the others I own. Its dead simple and reliable. You'll find any digital light needs to be reset from time to time while using it, some need reprogramming each time (Actron Pro). In cheaper lights you'll also get skew the farther you advance the dial-back. You're actually better off with a timing tape applied to your crank pulley and a simple old used Craftsman off Ebay or CL.

 

Sears sells a craftman dial back timing light with built in tach. It's somewhere around $50.

I've had it for a couple years. Seems to work well.

 

This is a review cut right from Sears' website:
Craftsman Advanced Timing Light - Stay Away!!!
As soon as I began using this timing light it just flashed a few times and then stopped working, I also purchased the more expensive Craftsman Professional Digital Timing Light and had the same problem. There is no difference between the two lights when it comes to quality of craftsmanship. I would not recommend buying either $70 or $100 timing lights, they're just not worth your time and hassle. Instead I borrowed my neighbors mid' '70s Matco timing light and that worked great.

Just buy and old used Craftsman so you get real Craftsman quality!!!

 

I have one I bought from autozone of somewhere for around $40. It works great with the actual dial to see your exact timing. I do wish I had a tach on it but I just quick wire in a tach so I can see my rpms for adjustment.

 

I have an old Craftsman dial back that I always felt the accuracy was suspect. Caught a deal on Mac digital some years back. Mac light is really nice, I wouldn't trust anything but similar digital unit after using it. There's one on eBay now for $169 used which is more than I paid for new. IIRC some of the "tool truck brands" seem to be using a rebranded Equus light so they are probably decent quality & seem to be available closer to $100.

 

I have the new Snap-On timing light with full scope functions. And a Mac, and Equus, and Actron, etc... Timing is my day job. The only light I trust 100% is the old Craftsman with no function but the strobe. Get a timing tape for $7 and a vintage timing light. Quality in the last 10 years has been horrible. Horrible!

 

Brian,


Do you know the model # of the Mac you have? The one I see on ebay is a TL600E.


I need one too. There's a local guy on CL with a Mac for sale but I think it's an old one that's not digital and doesn't have a tach. He wants like $125 for it which seems like stupid money because there's a few that are similar on ebay for around $75 shipped. I have an old analog dwell meter that has a tach so I really can get by with just the dial back type gun.

 

I've got one of the gray snap on digital ones that's probably 15 years old now, it has worked well for me.

I always thought about trying to figure out a way to check the light's calibration against a Sun machine. Not sure if it's possible.

 

The problem is that the Sun machine may not be calibrated either (I have 13 of them).
Yes, you can use the strobe against the degree wheel on a spinning Sun machine, but you have to verify the speed is consistent, which is not a "given." If you use a non-contact digital tach (used to calibrate the Sun) to verify speed, then it can be done. Park an idling car next to your Sun machine to make it simple, or use a tester with a spark plug array and coil, which you'll have a very difficult time finding. Zero the pointer on th Sun to match your strobe, play with the dial back and watch the pointer move the same number of degerees (hopefully).

 

Certainly valid points. 13 sun machines? That's just showing off...

I've been half shopping for one, but we will be moving within 6 months for work, so it's not a priority until after that.

 

...and one Snap-On Distrib-U-Scope.
I need to have 2 tuned for daily use, basically 2 back-ups for each, plus one set up for full system testing - coil, cap, wires, up to 12 cylinders. The rest are on the shelf for parts or future restoration.
It seems like when a Sun machine fails, another will fail at the same time. Basic repairs can take 3-10 hours per machine, depending on what broke or burned up. Still a magnificent piece of equipment and far better quality than the new $10k+ machines. They can be "hotrodded" just like a car!

 

Too bad you live in Minneapolis, distibutorguy. I'd just bring it over and let you set up the distributor!

 

I can't imagine a plastic **** on a 20-cent potentiometer possessing any level of accuracy on the typical dial-back timing light.

Using a timing tape was mentioned, but I don't think I heard anyone suggest the method described in the Supertuning booklet published by Oldsmobile back in the late '60s and early '70s. Scribe a line (or use chaulk, if you're lazy) at 30- and 35-degrees on your balancer using the dimension in the Supertuning booklet. Or if you're handy with geometry, it's easy to find 30 degrees, since it's an even divisor of 360 (hint: one twelfth the circumference).

 

I buy a timing tape, but use it to transfer timing marks onto the balancer with either a scribe or an engraver. Then use paint to highlight the marks, at least the critical ones. I like to have TDC, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 90, 180 270 all marked out.

 

I have Innova 5568, it's does the job.

 

I have this and really like it.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...FdBahgod-aYHpA

 

Those look good. I'll check 'em out.

 

X2, but I bought brand new.

 

Read the reviews before you buy any new timing light.

 

Will do.

 

Okay, I just pulled the trigger on an Innova 5568. It had the most consistently good reviews and a long history of them. $135 all in from Amazon.

I'll let y'all know how it works out. Thanks for the advice, everybody.

 

After about a year of looking on CL for a used snap-on or mac, and not finding anything, I was just about to buy one of these cheapy Harbor Freight lights

http://www.harborfreight.com/timing-...nce-40963.html

Then today I found this hardly used Sears 28-2194 advance light (almost the same as the one above posted by oldcutlass) for $25 on CL

 

Like I posted above, I've had mine for a long time. I've used it on a lot of engines.