No, it is not. You should mark the position of the #1 wire on the distributor base with the cap on. With the engine at TDC #1 on compression, align the rotor with this mark on the distributor. This should get you in the ball park. You will then need disconnect the timing wire to adjust the timing with an inductive timing light.

 

I did all this, but when i'm at TDC my rotor points between 1 and 6. When i set timing at 0 it does not run very good. If I set it around 8 it runs good & smooth. That's why I think I may be off a tooth. Will that be ok since I just turned the distributor base to compensate? Or do I really need to turn one tooth so that rotor lines up with 1 on cap? Also does the strait part of the cap and distributor need to be perpindicular with the firewall or is it usually turned to the right a bit? Right now 1&6 are both to the front evenly. Is this correct or close enough? Hope this is not considered hijacking a thread. If so, truly sorry. Thanks for your help!

 

8* is where the initial timing should be set. With the older style distributors, you can just turn the base and be fine so long as all of the electrical wires reach.

 

Thanks, I think I will just leave it alone now!

 

If you are having problems installing your EDI Distributor and cant get the the rotor to line up close to (6 cast in the dist.) pull it back out and turn your crank clockwise about 1/4 inch past the timing mark then set it back in,, should line up within a couple degrees as the illustration shows. I had to do this on my 95 4x4 (new engine) and started right up. I hope this helps

 

There are two timing marks as shown in the illustration above. The common issue is that so many people are used to lining up with the first mark.

 

ok just to clarify i meant that once you have Both timing marks lined up properly..then turn it CW 1/4" past the upper mark, set the dist. in as described then turn it back CCW so the timing marks are realigned ,you should be right on the money.

 

i can't get my car to start again
i just rebuilt my engine and Transmission on my 2000 Chevy blazer 4wd, got it working but the car ran rough i checked the timing and saw the timing mark was way before the tab so i move the distributor over one tooth( the wrong way) so i moved it the other way 2 teeth. the car ran ok, the the timing mark was still way before the tab so i move it one more tooth the car didn't start, so i moved it back the car still didn't start. after playing around with is for most of the day i found this thread.
i noticed that i did originality set it up like the instruction here. but when i did it again it won't start.
i get a back flow of air (thought the carb) when i start the car now. i have a bad feeling that i really messed up the timing at one point and may have bent the push rods.
can something like that happen when setting the timing.

I have spent month's working on this suv only to have it run for a few hour then have me mess it up in a minute.
i don't seam to have much luck with timing.
can some one advise me on what to do.

btw i have cleared the codes from the computer but i am not sure if that reset the leaned setting.

 

Sounds more like the timing chain has jumped... Have you done a compression test?

 

OK got the car working
stupid mistake
my distributor has both a 6 and a 8 timing mark on the rotor
i had it on the 8 when it should be on 6
my computer tells me that i have 20 degrees of advance at 750rpm
what kind of advance should i have at idle
i have not turned the cap (kind of hard to) i am thinking i need to move it one more tooth.

and when i use a timing light the mark is about an inch away from the tab
where should it be.
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i can't easily check the compression of the cylinder but the #1 is at 160psi at start up
the engine still run a little rough
and i am getting misfire output from the computer
will fine tuning the timing fix that

btw, not sure if it matter but i used cheap 10w-30 (i have a high flow pump so i don't thing it made a big deal) in the car, i am going to change it with Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-30 + Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer tomorrow (only had it in just to flush the system and in case i had to drain the oil to fix a bigger problem