How do you know if your car is not timed right

[Big bubba]

How can I be sure that my VW sand rails timing is set correct?

 

[PhilFrisbie]

That is not an easy question. The timing is affected by compression, fuel mixture, and engine cooling. But if you hear pinging under load you need to back it off.

 

[jacobboe89]

if you don't want to back the timing off then you must raise the octane of your fuel but if raising the octane of your fuel doesn't fix the pinging you must back off your ignition advance or do something . this is one of the things that are beautiful about the newer fuel injected engines being equipped with a knock sensor so you can run as much advance without running into this sort of thing . you should get a timing light and see where you are at with advance .