My 2 Degree Timing Advance Dealer Experience

Finnattic · 12-12-2006, 09:08 PM

Called my local dealer today (Victory Nissan here in Richmond, Va) and asked if they could do the advance and the service manager answered the phone. To my surprise he said it shouldn't be a problem. Said it would be about $90.00. I get there and my service guy looked a little surprised when I told him what I wanted. I told him his boss said they would do it for me.

So I'm sitting in his office and the service guy comes in and says that they have never done this for anyone before and was concerned about it having negative effects on my truck and went on to say that if they did this, they needed me to sign a waiver releasing Nissan of any liability if anything goes wrong with my engine and my warranty would be voided! They were concerned with my truck running lean. I was a little surprised to say the least. All the mechanics and management got together and were all discussing this in the shop. Seemed to be a pretty big deal. Then the mechanic comes in and basically says the same thing. He said that I was the first one to ever request this and that he wasn't sure about it.

I have about 10,0000 miles left on my warranty and have extended coverage through my insurance company so I wasn't really concerned as far as the warranty went because I felt that this wasn't going to blow my engine up or anything. I told him to go ahead and do it anyways. Turns out, it took him all of 10 minutes to advance the timing with his consult 2. He was experimenting to see if the consult would let him advance the timing more than 2 degrees but would only let him do 2. He said he believed it would only advance it 2 degrees as a safeguard and ended up admitting that they over reacted and get this, wasn't going to charge me!

(I think the fact that it took him all of 5, 10 min after all the fuss and me being a marine just back from Iraq and so was the mech had a little to do with it .)

In the end I got the advance for free and didn't have to sign any waiver. Hopefully I broke the ice for this dealership and opened the door for anyone wanting the advance in this area without all the fuss. Not so sure other's will get as lucky as I did and get it for free though. Sorry for the short story.

peace

titaninak · 12-12-2006, 09:18 PM

very cool, let us know what u think of the mod, that is my next mod.

Finnattic · 12-12-2006, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by titaninak

very cool, let us know what u think of the mod, that is my next mod.

I'm not really sure if it's the placebo effect or not but it feels like it got some more low end. I'll run the G-tech for $hits and giggles and see if my 0 to 60's are any different than normal making sure the atmospheric conditions are similar to my last runs of course. I was averaging 6.5 ish.

Interested to see the mpg difference if any.

SOCALTITANKC4X4LE · 12-12-2006, 10:01 PM

I had the same happen to me with my dealer. I didn't have pay.

dboogie · 12-12-2006, 10:05 PM

Good to hear that they did it for ya. I'm in the DC metro area and go to Richmond all the time. I'll have to swing by Victory to see if they can do my Armada. Is Victory on Broad St or out Mechanicsville Tnpk?? I can't seem to remember exactly where it is. Do you recall what the service managers name was??

baseballfanz · 12-12-2006, 10:14 PM

Since this was the first Titan they did, I hope they finish your advance correctly by adjusting your idle RPM.

Finnattic · 12-12-2006, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOCALTITANKC4X4LE

I had the same happen to me with my dealer. I didn't have pay.

What an oxymoron! Free at the stealership! The Ole "not what you know but who" strikes again...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dboogie

Good to hear that they did it for ya. I'm in the DC metro area and go to Richmond all the time. I'll have to swing by Victory to see if they can do my Armada. Is Victory on Broad St or out Mechanicsville Tnpk?? I can't seem to remember exactly where it is. Do you recall what the service managers name was??

Hopefully won't be a problem for ya.
Victory on Broad St. Out near Short Pump. His first name was Brian. Don't recall his last.

BTW: bring your lawyer, lol

Finnattic · 12-12-2006, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseballfanz

Since this was the first Titan they did, I hope they finish your advance correctly by adjusting your idle RPM.

I remember reading that. + 75 for the 2 degree advance if I remember correctly needing to be adjusted back 75 after the advance. I've got a scantron 2 plugged in to the OBD port and I'll have to monitor for any changes. Thanks for the heads up!

SKEET · 12-12-2006, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnattic

I'm not really sure if it's the placebo effect or not but it feels like it got some more low end. I'll run the G-tech for $hits and giggles and see if my 0 to 60's are any different than normal making sure the atmospheric conditions are similar to my last runs of course. I was averaging 6.5 ish.

Interested to see the mpg difference if any.

Let us know if your time improve.

Finnattic · 12-12-2006, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SKEET

Let us know if your time improve.

Dammmmmm!!!

I just got back from doing 0 to 60 test and all I can say is dammmmmm.

It accelerates like never before. It threw me back in the seat like never before. Good thing I have 4 wheel drive!! It was certainly in order. I highly recommend this mod. I haven't done any test for a pretty long while until tonight. I ran a couple of times. First run was 5.95 0 to 60 and the second was 0 to 60 in 5.75. Keep in mind I ran this G at the track and it was within 1/100th of a second accurate in the 1/4 with the tree.

I'm still running stock 17's with 285/70/17 and I have some 20 Gunner 6's and 275/55/20's on the way. I'll doubt I'll get this kind of performance out of that setup but at least I've negated some of the performance loss with this mod. I think I'm gonna film the whole run and post it at a later time but for now I didn't take the camera with me so I filmed the results when I got back.

Anyways, here's the link of the results...http://media.putfile.com/575-0001

LOL, a little clip of my old band with me on the drums snuck in the vid so pay it no mind, I recorded over it to get the results

SirStrider · 12-13-2006, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnattic

I'm not really sure if it's the placebo effect or not but it feels like it got some more low end. I'll run the G-tech for $hits and giggles and see if my 0 to 60's are any different than normal making sure the atmospheric conditions are similar to my last runs of course. I was averaging 6.5 ish.

Interested to see the mpg difference if any.

my mpg goes down every mod i do -- something to do with the foot action!!!

Hey, Fin, I'm from Richmond, one of my kids and all the rest of my family are there. Should be there in a week or 10 days to see my first grandchild - she's 11 days old!!! Maybe we could have a beer and swap stories over the holidays -- PM me if interested.

Anyway, I called the dealer here in small town Blue Springs, MO - the service writer quoted me $45 to put my 4 snows on the truck (they were already mounted and balanced), $45 to reset the TPMS (I have 4 extra in the snow tires and wheels), and blew a gasket on the idea of advancing the timing.

I got the wheels and tires put on at the local tire place - $14. Then I headed for McCarthy Nissan here in Blue Springs.

Well, I have gotten to know a couple of the techs over the years over the Frontier I traded in. They had me bring my Titan back in the shop, and we started to play with the Consult (I brought the posted directions - they hadn't done the advance before and were curious). We got the advance done, almost got the TPMS working (that will be a new thread - couldn't get the indicator light to light, even with only 20 psi in the tires and 10 miles of driving), and all it is costing me is a bottle of Scotch, plus I volunteered that. Advantages of a small town, I guess...

Certainly worth the trouble - according to the butt dyno!!! Highly recommended. Err, the advance too, not just the Scotch...

Just don't forget to do the Idle Air Volume Relearn and set your idle back to where it was.

An ECU reset will not clear it, but, if you disconnect the battery for a long time (5 or 6 hours, sometimes less), it will clear the advance.

The instuctions for all this and an in-cab Idle Air Volume Relearn are posted, err, elsewhere.

Finnattic · 12-13-2006, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirStrider

my mpg goes down every mod i do -- something to do with the foot action!!!

Hey, Fin, I'm from Richmond, one of my kids and all the rest of my family are there. Should be there in a week or 10 days to see my first grandchild - she's 11 days old!!! Maybe we could have a beer and swap stories over the holidays -- PM me if interested.

Anyway, I called the dealer here in small town Blue Springs, MO - the service writer quoted me $45 to put my 4 snows on the truck (they were already mounted and balanced), $45 to reset the TPMS (I have 4 extra in the snow tires and wheels), and blew a gasket on the idea of advancing the timing.

I got the wheels and tires put on at the local tire place - $14. Then I headed for McCarthy Nissan here in Blue Springs.

Well, I have gotten to know a couple of the techs over the years over the Frontier I traded in. They had me bring my Titan back in the shop, and we started to play with the Consult (I brought the posted directions - they hadn't done the advance before and were curious). We got the advance done, almost got the TPMS working (that will be a new thread - couldn't get the indicator light to light, even with only 20 psi in the tires and 10 miles of driving), and all it is costing me is a bottle of Scotch, plus I volunteered that. Advantages of a small town, I guess...

Certainly worth the trouble - according to the butt dyno!!! Highly recommended. Err, the advance too, not just the Scotch...

Just don't forget to do the Idle Air Volume Relearn and set your idle back to where it was.

An ECU reset will not clear it, but, if you disconnect the battery for a long time (5 or 6 hours, sometimes less), it will clear the advance.

The instuctions for all this and an in-cab Idle Air Volume Relearn are posted, err, elsewhere.

Happening Stride!

First off, congrats on the grandchild! Thanks for the invite. If I'm in town around that time we can grab a beer. I'm always game for that!

I've got some wheels and tires coming my way as well but they are certainly not for snow, Lol. Yokohama Parada Spec-X 275/55/20's on some gloss black Mb Gunner 6's.
Living where you live now, I can certainly see why you would want the snow tires. I'm gonna keep my old wheels and tires in case we have a bad winter here. I want it to snow really bad (being in the deserts of the middle east durring the summer) so I figure once I put the performance tires on it will snow like crazy!

Well as you can see from my above post the beast really responded well with the advance. Certainly worth my hassles! I didn't think it would make that much of a difference but tonight I was shown differently.

The tech was confirming what others have said that this motor is detuned enough to make a difference in modding it. I confirmed this to myself tonight with the 0 to 60 runs and my butt dyno. Look at what the UpRev does as well. Nice to know there is room to play with.

Thanks for the tips (I caught the instructions posted) and judging from my Scantron 2, the rpm's are reading the same at idle as it did before the advance so the tech knew what he was doing. I just can't believe how much of a difference the advance made. The CAI and exhaust are helping for sure. Can't wait for Cobb or Stillin to produce. I was going to drive to TeX on a big azz road trip but I think I'll hold out until I get my hands on a programmer.

SirStrider · 12-13-2006, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnattic

Happening Stride!

First off, congrats on the grandchild! Thanks for the invite. If I'm in town around that time we can grab a beer. I'm always game for that!

I've got some wheels and tires coming my way as well but they are certainly not for snow, Lol. Yokohama Parada Spec-X 275/55/20's on some gloss black Mb Gunner 6's.
Living where you live now, I can certainly see why you would want the snow tires. I'm gonna keep my old wheels and tires in case we have a bad winter here. I want it to snow really bad (being in the deserts of the middle east durring the summer) so I figure once I put the performance tires on it will snow like crazy!

Well as you can see from my above post the beast really responded well with the advance. Certainly worth my hassles! I didn't think it would make that much of a difference but tonight I was shown differently.

The tech was confirming what others have said that this motor is detuned enough to make a difference in modding it. I confirmed this to myself tonight with the 0 to 60 runs and my butt dyno. Look at what the UpRev does as well. Nice to know there is room to play with.

Thanks for the tips (I caught the instructions posted) and judging from my Scantron 2, the rpm's are reading the same at idle as it did before the advance so the tech knew what he was doing. I just can't believe how much of a difference the advance made. The CAI and exhaust are helping for sure. Can't wait for Cobb or Stillin to produce. I was going to drive to TeX on a big azz road trip but I think I'll hold out until I get my hands on a programmer.

Nice - Can't wait to see your wheels. I got the snows for the VA trips in winter mostly -- I-70 can be hell from Indiana to W. Virginia in winter.

I've got the poor-man's CAI and exhaust system -- DIY snorkel mod and just the Magnaflow muffler on stock pipes -- but, those with the timing advance -- truly amazing. UpRev is WAY down the road for me -- need some more chrome and want to beef up the suspension first.

I'll be online in Richmond -- will keep in touch. If I can get out of here!!! Last minute trip to-do's... Still fighting a TPMS problem, too...

I put the post-advance steps in for those that have to train their techs. Mine were really cool about it all - I just pull into the shop bay now - don't even go through the service writers for this type of stuff.

I've seen harsh winters in Richmond before - back in the 60's, I remember the roads being icy with a couple of feet of snow for weeks. Longest Christmas vacation ever when in high school (oops - yes, I'm getting up there, but still enjoy a fun ride)... I'll be in touch...

kj22250 · 12-14-2006, 07:28 PM

It's nice to see bouncing girl again!

Finnattic · 12-15-2006, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj22250

It's nice to see bouncing girl again!

Ahhh yesss, it was great to see em both again