My 92 engine timing was 1 tooth off. It ran smoothly, just drank extra
gas and had poor high rpm power.
If you can't adjust the timing to spec, the culprit is bad timing belt
installation.

disallow wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> So here I am, back again. Hat in hand, looking for ideas,
> or at least some reassurance that I didn't totally f&*(ck
> up my poor little 98 civic LX (D16Y7).
>
> Since the timing belt job, I have gone thru 1 tank of
> fuel. I filled up on Friday, and have driven 100kms and
> gone thru almost 1/4 tank! (This could be due in part to
> not filling up allll the way, but I am pretty sure the
> problem is bigger than that.) I gauged my mileage on the
> last tank, it was around 25MPG (US gallons). (BRUTAL)
>
> My exhaust smells different than before. It doesn't smell
> bad, it smells more like when the car was new. Kind of a
> sweet smell, not really sulphur. Performance is steady
> throughout the range of all RPMs, no weird vibrations at
> low or high RPMs, car still hits 180KPH no problem.
>
> I have, in the past 2 months, also replaced distributor
> cap, rotor, and plug wires. My plugs are under 1 yr old,
> but were running with the weak cap, rotor, and wires until
> I replaced them.
>
> Here are my theories:
>
> 1. I need to replace my spark plugs. They were a little
> carbonned up, but not really that bad. The insulator had some arcing
> marks on it on 2, probably from my bad wires.
> I did re-gap them when I put them back in during the t-
> belt replacement.
>
> 2. Ignition timing may be off. Either I need to set my
> ignition timing, or I am off by one tooth on the timing
> belt.
>
> There are conflicting reports of what this engine does
> when it is off by one tooth. Some say it won't run at
> all, others say it runs with reduced power, still others
> say it just affects gas mileage a whole lot. I'm not too
> sure what to believe.
>
> How much does the computer advance/retard timing on its
> own? From what I have read, one tooth off means that it
> would be 18 degrees advanced or retarded. Also, the guy
> mentioned that the distributor can only adjust for 5
> degrees when you adjust it manually.
>
> The site I saw this on was:
>
> http://www.cadvision.com/blanchas/54pontiac/honda.html
>
> I have not checked my timing yet. I will wait to hear
> back from the group on opinions of this action.
>
> 3. So theory 3 is that I am just being paranoid, and need
> to give the ECU some time to reprogram itself from when I
> reset it during the t-belt replacement procedure.
>
> How long can this take? Can it 'teach itself' the wrong
> F/A mixtures and cause the problems with mileage? Should
> I reset it again?
>
> Any thoughts are appreciated.
>
> Oh ya, and I checked my tire pressure, 32PSI all
> around.... and I ran some FI Cleaner through the system
> about a month ago.
>
> Thanks
> t