Thread: over retarded timing

A friend of mine swapped in a ve in his b13 and is having trouble getting the timing set. I checked it out and looks to be 30-40 degs retarded. Car runs smooth but has no power and backfires. Hes tried 2 ecus and 2 distributors and still cant get the timing even close. The engine looks to have been previously disassembled (orange silicone), so im thinking the cams may be off a tooth or two. Anything else we should be checking before we start messin with the cam gears?

stick a extension into #1 then make sure your pulley marks line up with BTDC. It could be that the factory pulley is just broken.

Thought about that also, but the fact that its running so rich and so slow made me think that might not be the issue. I will check tdc before anything else.

Yes, but not 40 degrees retarded. Pulley must be off.

Thats just a guesstimate since my timing light doesnt read below zero. But i do know what you mean. Ill try another ve pulley ive got.

That is pretty retarded. :P