Timing lights :(

[Wallington]

Another year to forget, got the car going for the first time in 6 months. Apart from losing somewhere to live and everything being in storage, I was mid-tweaking of the Qjet and had long forgotten where I was at. It got worse before it got better, and notes I took were not matching. Anyway, got it running nicely, started new notes of current settings and adjustments to refer to, meant to check the timing, can't find my timing light. To be fair, it could be packed away anywhere in any box over 3 towns, and no access to most.
So I called in at the local auto shop, they had cheap versions, in quality, not so much the price, but figured I want it for this week, not drive around to several towns or wait for one to turn up from ebay etc.
Car running nicely, but timing light.....nothing. Very basic set up, spring loaded clip for lead #1 and clamp for each battery terminals, no screen or readout. I checked basic fit, nothing wrong or bad grounding. Annoyed, thought I'd got a dud, and because I wasn't passing that shop in next few days while it was open.
I went back to checking a few settings on carb, gave it a rev, noticed brief flicker of timing light. Hmm....few more tests, not very convincing but it only comes on at higher revs when held, and still a but flickery.
Says in the booklet of fault finding that it may be a sign of poor grounding, incorrect clip orientation, bad light, but also low voltage through wires, resistance or breaking down of wires or plug gap too small, basically it isn't sensing the current until the extra juice is applied.
In theory there's no dramas, running nicely, has DUI big output HEI, new leads, plugs etc, gap is less than stock but correct for mods.
Anyone had this before? Probably not an issue with my better light, where ever it is. When I get more time on the weekend I'll try again just for kicks, swap a different lead type in place or regap plug 1 only and see if it notices. Just annoying as something so trivial, that I didn't really need to do, didnt really need to buy, had to pay far more than it was worth only to find it can't do the only task it was meant to do. And then also out of time and money, for no gain than a brief boredom cure!

[wheels78ta]

Great to hear it's running again.  There are several factors that could cause the timing light issues.  One of them being too small of a gap on the plugs.

Other things to check:

Fouled plug, bad plug wire, electrodes inside distributor cap, bad coil.

Then, of course, the timing light itself.....bad connection on the strobe light, bad positive and/or negative lines, bad connection to the clips.

Have you tried to check the light on a different plug wire?

[5th T/A]

Ben, nice to hear your car is running.

I thought most timing lights used an inductive pickup. I haven’t seen the spring connectors for a long time. I would take that timing light back for a refund. There has to be some kind of car club around with old guys like me that you can borrow one from. I think I have two or three of them. They get as much use as my dwell meter!

[Wallington]

Yeah, it was meant to be a quick and easy check, since my stuff is all packed away. Oh well, at least that plug is the easiest to access on the Olds, will try a few things otherwise just ignore for another day!

[scarebird]

Have you tried to check the light on a different plug wire?

I always found #6 to be easier anyway.

[Wallington]

Not on a RHD Olds.
Piece of crap hasn't fired once in 2 days, entire weekend wasted. Soaked plugs cleaned 3 times and carb settings so far out it no longer matters.

[Wallington]

Now found the engine oil is well overfull and mixed with fuel, puddle of fuel under carb inside intake, gaskets weeping everywhere. Things stuffed again.

[Wallington]

Drove for 90 minutes to take carb and rebuilt kit to one of the only 2 places I know exist here for carburettors. Said unlikely to have it back this year. Awesome.

[b_hill_86]

That’s annoying. Little seems to move quickly anymore. I have a spare 70-77 radio and console 8 track player that needed serviced. I sent both out to a recommended fellow for repair. He told me 4-6 weeks to get them back. He had them for 4 months and I just had to send the 8 track player back because it wasn’t right.

[gm muscle]

I lucked out with a stereo refurbishment for my '87 Monte SS. He's a member on thirdgen.org. I believe the turn around time was about a week...added an aux cable too.

[Wallington]

What's the cable for these days, ipods and the like? Are they even a thing now, perhaps they are if no wifi/Bluetooth/cordless option. I had an original 78 radio 'rebuilt' and shipped around the world, also had aux cable hole. Shipping was similar to sending the car it came from. Naturally, it didn't work and the time Ebay allowed for issues ran out before it even arrived. Got stung a lot like that with faulty items, or items not sent at all, where forced to wait beyond time you can get a refund, and sellers knew it.
I left it with an auto electrician that specialised in classic gauges and tachos etc. Around 8 months later I collected it, not even looked at once. That was where my interest with installing an original radio ended, even with half an uncut dash sent around the world for grafting,  NOS and repro parts and suitable speakers. No one here will even pay the cost of the shipping if these items, even less the prices added on. And just like that, a project that was racing along loses all momentum as well as any interest in it. The entire car is full of these issues.

[b_hill_86]

I can totally see that and how discouraging that would be

[roadking77]

A slow lingering death is the end to many a car project. Happens all too often. I am not sure what the answer is other than perseverance, and lots of patience. I think I could be the poster child for the latter

[5th T/A]

Ben,
I feel bad how you get screwed on shipping costs and slow shipping times for any kind of parts. Sometimes I feel I have paid excessively for shipping, but it’s only a drop in the bucket compared to what you have to deal with.

I went through a similar scenario with getting my original radio repaired and while it was better, it was definitely not up to my expectations. Afterwards I spoke to the guy who did the repairs, he said send it back and he would take a look. One thing I initially didn’t think about is there is pretty limited content on the AM and FM bands. So I decided to install a newer, but still 15 year old radio that I had laying around, it had a USB input that allowed me to play music stored on my phone. I kept the original radio in the dash because I like the classic original look and mounted the radio in the slot of the console. Some guys have kept the original radio in its location and installed a modern one in the glove box. Others have purchased a Bluetooth speaker and just thrown it in the back seat. These solutions let you have the classic look but modern sound with a lot less money and aggravation.

A couple years ago I did a post in the audio section in TAC of my upgrade, but you probably know that. Funny thing is I love my old music but hardly ever listen to it while driving my TA. I prefer listening to the engine sound. Occasionally I do go out to the TA and crank up my favorite tunes sometimes excessively loud. Something I can’t do in the house if my wife is around!

[Wallington]

It's all good, wasn't after the sympathy vote! Simply saying that sometimes there seems to be dramas and costs with everything no matter what you do, while others fly through life oblivious to anything and only fall on their feet. And I don't like involving others, that's about the only times I get screwed over, or have no control over waiting, and waiting, rather than getting a day off, deciding to work on it instead. Like to see progress of some sort, currently just sitting.