Timing light

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Bigdummy

Not a Nova
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I need a new one with a advance.My old one brokeded.what have youse guys had good luck with?
 
Apparently advance timing lights do not work with msd ignition.
Perhaps the new ones work. Something to consider when shopping for a new light.
 
what brand timing light did you have. I have a sears from the 70-80s and it had a bad solder joint. fixed it and it is still running today!
 
I have an OLD Dixco tune up kit......the kind that came n the yellow plastic box back in the late 70s. Timing light, vacuum gauge, compression gauge, dwell meter and a remote starter button. That timing light in that kit is probably the most accurate light I've ever used. I checked it on the old Sun tune up machine we used when I was in auto shop in high school. It was dead on. My shop teacher said that was because it did not have the dial back advance feature and that the type lights that do not have that are much more accurate. It's always worked for me.

Just passin that along FWIW.
 
I never have been able to see a need for the "dial back" feature. Seems like they often malfunction, or the user has no clue how to use it anyway.

I too have a super-old Craftsman light that still works great. Not sure what I'd replace it with if it dies.
 
The old red MAC timing lights made by Actron work on MSD. Dial back is handy for checking total advance if you don't have a marked balancer
 
I use a dial back light.

Got it from auto zone. It was not cheep.
300.00? Enova brand?

Works just as good as my buddys matco dial back and looks exactly the same.

Tool man may be able to tell you the difference tho?

@toolmanmike

My car uses MSD as do most stuff i work on.
 
The Inova brand probably makes and brands them for Matco. I have a Inova electronic dial back with tach. Works great but I javen't tried it on MSD. It's the multiple sparks that fool the electronics.
 
Mine has tach, volts, dwell, all the same stuff as my buddys matco. Works fine on my 6AL and probillet dizzy.

Thanks mike!

It looks EXACTLY the same except the logo.
 
The problem with the dial back lights reading incorrectly is...... you don’t know that’s whats happening.

It might be showing the correct timing.......might not be.

For something that matters, I use a plain non-dial back light.
 
The problem with the dial back lights reading incorrectly is...... you don’t know that’s whats happening.

It might be showing the correct timing.......might not be.

For something that matters, I use a plain non-dial back light.
If you are serious about accuracy I wholeheartedly agree. A marked balancer or timing tape will get you there. Many street cars though have power steering and possibly a/c and often you can't see 45° before when you're checking your total. When on the tool truck I sold a ton of the dial advance Actron lights to stock car guys. They would usually tape the dial so it wouldn't move and total time the engine. Their total timing according to the dial on the light was just a number as long as it was set the same every time. Change something in the engine, change the total and lock it in.
 
The high end digital dial back lights are the way to go if you "just gotta have one". I would never use the old style with the dial back knob with the printed gauge on the back. Is the knob indexed right? Is the gauge marked correctly? The really crappy ones have a gauge printed on a sticker. LMAO How many degrees could "ALL THAT" be off.

No, for me it will always be a standard inductive non dial back light and let the engine do the dialing back. Most accurate way to go unless you use some sort of high end scan tool or even a decades old tune up machine. Even the high end digital lights can succumb to interference from different sources. I've seen it happen. Keep it simple, stupid. lol
 
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This dude works great. And it so simple.
 
Dwell meter. Got one of those myself. It was my dads. I used it all the time when i was a kid. Always set dwell first. Then timing

Yup. Funny thing about that Dixco kit. I got that before we had any Autozone or any of that around. Got it from a local mom and pop that's long gone of course. Every bit of it is made in USA and it all still works. I've even tested the light against an oscilloscope and it's right.
 
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