i've never used one but i borrowed an old timing light from my brother in law to set the timing on my truck. i connected the power leads to the battery and attached a plastic clothes pin type clip over the #1 spark plug wire with the arrow pointing in the direction of the spark plug

now i know it's getting power cuz there's an Rpm guage on the back that shows me the engine is idling around 1000 rpm and i guess that means the sensor that goes over the spark plug wire is working as well. i also found a white dot on the crankshaft pulley and the ^ pointer. but when i try to do the test i don't see any light at all. looking directly at the gun i don't see any light neither.

i don't know if i didn't connect something right or if the light is just burnt out. i opened the gun and the light in the tip is this horseshoe shaped bulb and doesn't appear to be anything that can just be unplugged/unscrewed and replaced. my BIL when he gave it to me said he wasn't even sure if it still worked. if it is burnt does that mean the gun is history.

 

Moved to proper forum.

We are going to assume here that you did pull the trigger to turn it on. Unfortunately the bulbs or driver circuits do fail. Sometimes you can get a working replacement bulb from somewhere like Radio Shack. But they do need to have leads attached etc. If you can't do that put it in your next garage sale for 50¢ and note that the bulb does not work.

 

flip the plastic clothspin thingy over on the plug wire , some of them wont read in one direction .

 

A busted one was given to me. I tracked the problem to a burnt SCR, looks like a small three-wire transistor. Pretty easy fix, Rad Shack should have the part. Usually a bad flash tube will have a dark spot but it might also have a hairline crack at a pin base or air leak, that's harder to spot. Tubes can be found in surplus, but it might be a bigger project locating cheap parts. Tehn you need an iron and solder if you don't have one and a bit of practice if you've never done that sort of thing.

Maybe easier to check at pawn shops for a cheap replacement?

-Smoky

 

Is the Actron timing light good?

 

I have some of their stuff and it is OK. My timing light is an old Craftsman Timing Analyzer that is 20 years old and still works.