what causes the car engine to got out of timing?

Question

Every 2 years I need to get my car smogged. Each time I get my cars engine timed it passes smog.

I would like to know what causes the engine to get out of timing to begin with and does it has anything at all to do with the distributor and points ? Thank you so much

Answer 1

Things wear out. If your car is so old it still has points. They need to be adjusted every couple of months and replaced about every six months. Also as the timing chain or belt wears it too will affect your timing. That's why you need to get tune ups.at regular times to keep things operating properly. It also affect the performance and the almighty gas mileage .

Answer 2

What kind of car, and what engine?
The only way a distributor could get out of time is a sloppy shaft bearing(which would be constant), worn teeth on shaft, again would be constant, and points would not be the cause of any major timing shift.
A loose lock nut on the distributor would be the most likely cause, but there again, after setting the timing, whoever does this should and probably does tighten this lock nut.
If you have a overhead cam engine, it's possible the timing belt is too loose and causing a timing shift, but that would show up to whoever sets the timing and should be obvious.

Answer 3

Depending on what type of car it is ,it could be a bad timing chain, or timing belt. Does the distributor have points? For most newer cars, the distributor has induction, or pointless ignition. Putting in a new rotor, and a new distributor cap, could solve the problem. Maybe even changing to new & better ignition wires .

Answer 4

FIRST OF I WILL NEED MORE INFO LIKE MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR OF THIS VEHICLE.

MOST OF ALL NEWER VEHICLE DO NOT HAVE DISTRIBUTORS AND ALL NEWER VEHICLES DO NOT HAVE POINTS AND THE TIMING IS SET BY THE COMPUTER FOR VEHICLES FROM 1980 1/2 TO PRESENT.

Answer 5

If it has points and condensor, it's pre-smog.