timing light wont turn on

[Structure240sx]

i'm tryinto set my timing which i never got around to doin since i got my car running again. i put it 91 cams. i bought a timing light and hooked it up to the battery and first spark plug wire. i do this and nothin happens the light wont turn on. i have the timing light clamps on the battery terminals securely but it just doesnt go on. i tried two old timing lights of my grandfathers and they wouldnt turn on either. am i doin sumthin worng here? i feel kind dumb that i can pull a transmission, do suspension work, install cams, etc. by myslef but i cant figure out how to set timing. not even set it but get the damn light to work.

[vwluv10338]

it shouldnt be hooked to the battery at all. It should be connected to the sparkplug wire and a ground.

Eric

[Structure240sx]

but there is a red cable end and where would it get power from? or does it get it from the sparkl plug wire?

[boileralum00]

Did you start the car? The light won't do anything unless the car is actually running b/c there is no signal from the wire you are clipped on to. And, every timing light I have ever used gets connected to the battery, then has the loop that goes around cylinder #1 plug wire.

[Structure240sx]

yea the car was on and both cables were connected to the battery and the i guess induction wire to #1. im goin to go try again right now

[MojoMan]

it shouldnt be hooked to the battery at all. It should be connected to the sparkplug wire and a ground.

Eric

Unless its got its own power source........it needs to go to the pos terminal to. I know there are different timing guns, but if it only has the inductive clip then its a self powered timing gun. If it has a negative cable then it must have a positive cable as well.

[Structure240sx]

yea it has a black (-) clip and a red (+) clip and the induction clip. i just tried it again every way possible. the instruction say black to negative terminal and red to a ground doesnt make sense to me but i tried it anyway. nothin worked again. maybe the gun is just broke ill go return it today and try a new one.

[Meantime]

Try moving the induction clamp around - sometimes if it is too close to the plug end, or another source of interference, it won't work properly. I had the same problem until I shifted the induction around on the wire, then Pop! it appeared.

I'm not sure what kind of light you have, but it is really hard to see mine in daylight, I have to use it within a garage to see the strobe.

[Structure240sx]

yeai tried to move it clsoer to the plug and closer to the distributor but not really in the middle. and it was in day light but i tried to put my hand right in front of it but maybe i did miss it. ill go try again

[Structure240sx]

ok got it workin i had the spark plug wire on the wrong part of the induction wire. thanks fellas

[Structure240sx]

fixed the timing must have been advanced at least 5 degrees prolly more. i feel alot better now that i fixed that. hopefully it will help out my gas milage problem

[vwluv10338]

Thats right it does need power. It has been a while since I have used one. I would connect the power to my ignition coil on my old bug. I dont think there was one time I was able to set my timing without getting shocked.

Eric

[96_S14_SE]

Kinda off topic but on topic as well... Timing lights dont like 8.5mm wires, and if you ever drop a set in, just keep that in mind.

I kept #1 from my old oem sumitomo wires after finding the timing light cant get the proper signal on the accel 8.5 wires I bought (bought them for the mad power gains.... um I mean because they had nice resistance and where cheaper then the techs price for OEM's)...

[Structure240sx]

yea i had a set of accel wires on before but took them off cuz i was goint o sell the car but looks like i might be keepin it.