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damage caused by retarded timing help

yannick47

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my car was overheating and had valvetrain noise from both sides as if the rockers were hitting the valve cover .took the car to the garage today and turned out to be the distributor was set a bit retarded ...he turned the distributor a bit to increase timing and bang the noise just went away.

even with the retarded timing the car instantly started up and ran really good


HOW MUCH DAMAGE WOULD I HAVE CASED MY ENGINE?I RAN WITH THIS NOISE(which sounded like a sewing machine quite loud) FOR ABOUT 200 MILES

one other member pointed out it was detonation??can 3..4 degrees of retarded timing cause this?:angryfire::angryfire::angryfire::angryfire::angryfire::angryfire:

and oil pressure was always
30 psi at idle(210 temperature) and 65-75 while cruising
autometer gauge
 
I would think too much total timing would cause detonation, not timing when it's retarded back a few degrees. I run 32* timing locked out and the car cranks fine and runs great on pump gas. I could see it being a large issue, if your total timing as at 38* and it was advanced quite a bit. Most race engine builders locally suggest 30-32* total timing on 93 pump with aluminum heads. Also your timing will be set lower anyways for the best performance running aluminum over cast iron, I believe Indy used to have a chart for this on what timing was needed for each type of aluminum cylinder head in Mopars.
 
yeah but my cars timing was retarded??could this cause detonation too??was the should i was hearing detonation?and would it affect my cars performance if it was??
and i have aluminium heads eddy rpms

I would think too much total timing would cause detonation, not timing when it's retarded back a few degrees. I run 32* timing locked out and the car cranks fine and runs great on pump gas. I could see it being a large issue, if your total timing as at 38* and it was advanced quite a bit. Most race engine builders locally suggest 30-32* total timing on 93 pump with aluminum heads. Also your timing will be set lower anyways for the best performance running aluminum over cast iron, I believe Indy used to have a chart for this on what timing was needed for each type of cylinder head in Mopars.
 
In my experience slightly retarded timing does not cause detonation. It may be possible that excessively retarded timing will cause higher exhaust gas temps, higher coolant temps and possibly burned valves over time. I suppose if it's running well now you might have dodged a bullet but time will tell for sure.
 
Maybe someone has it backwards. The timing might have been too far advanced and the mechanic retarded it a bit. That's what the noise you're discribing reminds me of. Too much advance, too low octane, sounds like a bag of marbles rattling around under your valve covers. As long as she sounds and runs fine now, you should be fine.
 
yes it was causing the engine to heat up it runs well now.....just knowing what caused the noise would be good...the engine is rebuild and ive not put 2000 miles on it yet

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nope it was retarded for sure...and if it was detonation would the car run a bit poorly??slightly shaky engine?low power etc?the car ran really good..started right up and would burn my 295s....only problem was the sound and engine temps going up after a bit??

:mumum:

Maybe someone has it backwards. The timing might have been too far advanced and the mechanic retarded it a bit. That's what the noise you're discribing reminds me of. Too much advance, too low octane, sounds like a bag of marbles rattling around under your valve covers. As long as she sounds and runs fine now, you should be fine.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about it, it would make the car run like crap, probably foul the plugs, and maybe have overheating issues, but far better a bit retarded than too far advanced.
 
Low power, heating up, is this the engine where the ex manifolds were turning red? That's a sure sign of retarded timing as the ex gasses are burning in the ex pipes. Probably no damage as long as the engine didn't over heat. These motors are designed well and can take ALOT of abuse and still run good for a long time.
 
cars runs fine now still the temp goes up after 40 mins of driving but got meself a aluminium rad coming in a week:hello2:
 
In the forced induction world we need to run our timing retarded under boost, and I've never experienced it but many people claim that excessively retarded timing can cause detonation because of extreme exhaust temps as noted above. Retarded timing will cause the car to overheat for sure.

If the car seemed to run okay its more likely that your timing was only slightly too retarded and the side effect of the car running hot was causing your detonation. The car probably wouldn't idle if the timing was retarded enough to cause detonation unless the distributor was locked out and set at 18 degrees or something.
 
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