timing marks

[golf mk2 tornado red]

when i read HOW TO TUNE YOUR DIGI 8V i read about the timing marks and it being 6degree befor top dead
when fitting my new head and belt i could,nt get the gearbox bung out.
i set my crank using the marks on the bottom pully (mark pointing upwards i beleive)
i set my cam with the dot at the back inline with the head iirc

will my timing be tdc or am i 6btd as i said i should be running

the reason i ask is because my old man remembered someone tuned his driver and adjusted his timing (beleiving the set it to 6btd)

he also said summat about adjusting the ignition timing due to not selling 4star anymore

sorry if i sound thick .not done much on old golfs yet

we tend to get french c**p in at work   good old vw,s run forever

    thanks for any help guys   mark

[rubjonny]

you need a timing light with an advance/retard dial in it, the mark on the crank pulley is TDC only and wont show you ign advance.  Get that bung out becasue the pulley mark is very inacurrate!

I used a hammer and a screwdriver on mine and it eventually started turning.

Edit: dont worry about adjusting the timing for different fuels, this is where the digfifant engine is special.  Set the timing to the base 6 degrees BTDC spec and the ECU will automatically advance/retard the ignition to suit the fuel you put in it 

[golf mk2 tornado red]

cheers mate got a timing light at work ill do it tom along with a long list of things to do

[rubjonny]

just to be clear, if you wanna time it up off the crank pulley you need a light that you can dial in advance on, otherwise it'll be way off.  Alternatively remove the bung with brut force & ignorance and use the proper timing marks on the fly.  This is the best way as not only is the flywheel TDC mark much more accurate, it has a BTDC mark on it too so you can just use a bog std timing gun

[golf mk2 tornado red]

just to be clear, if you wanna time it up off the crank pulley you need a light that you can dial in advance on, otherwise it'll be way off.  Alternatively remove the bung with brut force & ignorance and use the proper timing marks on the fly.  This is the best way as not only is the flywheel TDC mark much more accurate, it has a BTDC mark on it too so you can just use a bog std timing gun

sorry for being thick where does my 6degree come in on my ignition (no) am i using that long gash in the wheel (yes)  cool

[rubjonny]

There are 2 marks on de flywheel, the small punch mark is TDC, and the large diamond is 6degree BTDC.  You hook up the timin gun to sparky #1, set it to 0 advance/retard if its a poncy one, then set the dizzy so that with temp sender disconnected and revs held at 2.25krpm the diamond is level with the arrow on the gearbox casing

[golf mk2 tornado red]

temp sender (blue one on side off the head)  thanks mark

[richard s]

when i fitted my timing belt i used the diamond on the flywheel as that was the only mark that i could see and i used the cam mark is this the correct way or have i set my timing wrong

[rubjonny]

yarg the blue one as per my faq

Richard: There are 2 marks on the fly, a small punch mark and a large diamond mark.  The small punch mark is for setting the static (belt) timing, and the large diamond mark is for setting the ignition timing, usually at idle with the vac tube to th dizzy disconnected, unless you have a digifant GTI in which case its more complicated.  If you do have a digifant GTI check out my digifant tuneup guide and it will tell you everything you need to know!

Heres a piccy of the flywhel marks for clarity:

[richard s]

i set it up with the large diamond mark as at the time i could not see small mark so i will have to take out the bung and have another look
if i find the small mark does this mean removing timing belt and resetting to this mark and would this explain why i only get around 16 mpg
and it is the digi gti and i have only ever had a quick look through the tunup guide as once i had fitted the belt a mobile tuner set up my car