I have a 94, 16 valve, 1.6 sidekick and i was wondering if my pistons will be alright if i advance the timing. (I didn't do it past the point that it would let me) I got alot more power than befor. I am also wondering how much it will effect my gas mileage.

thanks

nolan

As long as there's no knocking, you'll be fine. Gas mileage? Too many variables. Run your own tests and see for yourself.

Keep a close eye on your engine temps too.

Yea, havn't noticed any knocking yet... and my temp gauge is broken :S

Clean the connection at the sending unit - it's the #1 problem.

Way back in the day, advancing the timing was a drag racer's trick to overcome the hesitation caused by the lag time that it took for the vacuum advance to build up enough vacuum to kick in upon acceleration.  With the computer engine controls these days, I don't see the lag that we used to have in the old days.  I don't think there is much of an advantage to advancing the timing in a modern engine. 

 Advancing timing does not change the relative positions of the valves and pistons,  That is set by the position of the timing belt on the crank and cam. It only changes the timing of the firing of the spark plugs.

If you advance timing to the point that you get ping, that is where you will get piston damage. Timing is usually set a few degrees before the piston reaches top dead center (TDC) because there is a certain amount of time (a very short period of time) between the firing of the plug and usable combustion.  The "ping" is the firing of the fuel mix while the piston is too early in the compression stroke, and the combustion is trying to push the piston down while it is still coming up.  It will eventually erode a hole in the piston.  To correct ping, you can try premium gasoline, which burns slower, adding some alcohol to the tank, or backing the timing off some.

Way back in the day, advancing the timing was a drag racer's trick to overcome the hesitation caused by the lag time that it took for the vacuum advance to build up enough vacuum to kick in upon acceleration.  With the computer engine controls these days, I don't see the lag that we used to have in the old days.  I don't think there is much of an advantage to advancing the timing in a modern engine. 

 Advancing timing does not change the relative positions of the valves and pistons,  That is set by the position of the timing belt on the crank and cam. It only changes the timing of the firing of the spark plugs.

well, theres acually 2 types of timing on engines,

spark timing (set with distributor) then theres cam timing (as far as i can tell is what is being talked about in the rest of the thread)

cam timing can be adjusted by either mounting an adjustable cam gear (made in 2 parts so the gear can be clocked to advance) or can be done cheaply by removing the timing belt and advancing the cam one tooth at a time to advance the cam timing ahead.