Old timing light from 1987 still outshines my fancy digital one

My Snap-On digital strobe kept giving me false readings on a 302 Ford last week, so I dug out my dad's old analog timing light from the bottom of my toolbox. That thing nailed the advance in one pass and saved me from chasing a ghost misfire for another afternoon. Anybody else keep a beat-up older tool around for the jobs where the new tech just overcomplicates things?

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amyb5414d ago

Have you ever thought about how analog tools actually show you what's happening in real time, instead of giving you a number that might be averaged or delayed? My old Sears timing light has a needle that jumps around when the points are worn or the chain is stretched, and that tells me more than any digital readout ever could. Digital stuff hides the messy little fluctuations that are usually the real clue. Sometimes the "outdated" tool is just more honest about what it's seeing.