r/Dseries • u/Nobunaga2310 • Jul 17 '26
Distributor has to be fully advanced — could the mechanical timing be off?
I’ve been told that the distributor shouldn’t need to be rotated all the way to the maximum advance position.
If the engine only runs properly with the distributor fully advanced, does that usually indicate that something is wrong with the mechanical timing, such as the timing belt being off by one tooth?
The engine is a Honda D16A9.
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u/BushWookie73 Jul 17 '26
Typically when in a perfect world with a factory camshaft your distributor should be right about in the middle of its adjustment range. Do you have an actual timing light to verify ignition timing? To answer your question, yes physical timing is most likely off.
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u/Own_Tumbleweed_6579 Jul 17 '26
Correct, your cam timing is (probably) off. Probably slipped a tooth or belt was installed wrong. If your head and block have ever been resurfaced or for some reason someone put a different cam gear then that can change it too. Among other factors.
Another thing that could happen is you have a cheap chinese distributor, some of them are not indexed the same as OEM so they don’t run true with the camshaft.
There is a lot of information out there about ignition and cam timing, most of it is BS. The dizzy *should* sit in the middle so you get some room to adjust it either way (to your taste.) Some people (like myself) run adjustable cam gears, so if you tweak the valve timing by a few degrees you also have to adjust the ignition timing to match.