Found my old timing light from 1985 still works better than the new digital one

I bought one of those fancy digital timing lights last spring for my 1970 Chevelle. Spent about 120 dollars on it and the thing kept giving me inconsistent readings. Pulled my old Craftsman inductive timing light out of the garage last weekend and it nailed the timing on the first try. Has anyone else found that the old analog tools just work better for these pre-1980 engines?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivangrant4d agoProlific Poster

Woah wait, you paid 120 bucks for a digital timing light? That is absolutely insane. I remember when the first digital ones came out in the late 90s and they were maybe 40 dollars and still had issues. For that kind of money you could have bought a whole set of good hand tools or a couple cases of oil. My old Sears timing light from 1983 still sits in my toolbox and I wouldn't trade it for three of those newfangled ones. The old analog stuff just has simpler circuits inside, less to break or get confused by. Plus they're built like tanks compared to the cheap plastic junk they sell now.

ryan_stone4d ago

I read a thing recently where some old school mechanic tested like 20 different timing lights and the cheap ones had a delay in the flash that threw off the reading by a couple degrees. That 120 bucks might actually get you one that's accurate, but I get what you're saying. My grandpa's old Sun timing light from the 70s still works perfectly, it's got a metal case and weighs like 10 pounds. The plastic ones they sell now at AutoZone feel like they'd crack if you dropped them on concrete. I think a lot of the new digital stuff is just overpriced because it has a screen and buttons, not because the electronics are any better. Honestly I'd rather have an analog one that's simple and tough than something that might crap out after a year of garage use.