Patent Pending · First Run Pre-Orders Open

SEE EXACTLY
WHEN IT
FIRES.

A handheld diagnostic tool that displays actual injection timing referenced to crankshaft position. Live RPM, live degrees, on any engine. Diesel or gas. Mechanical or electronic. No guessing. And when a cylinder is down, it tells you which one.

Patent Pending Live Timing Live RPM Any Engine BLE to Phone Contribution Testing

The latest Timing Buddy™ build

What It Does

LIVE TIMING DEGREES

Actual injection or ignition event measured against crank position in real time. Not estimated. Not calculated. Measured.

LIVE RPM

Laser optical crank reference reads engine speed simultaneously with timing on the same display. Reflective tape on any pulley or use a magnetic target, with no modifications to the engine.

EVERY ENGINE

Mechanical diesel: piezo clamp on the fuel line. Electronic diesel: backprobe the injector. Modern gas: backprobe the coil primary. Old gas with plug wires: inductive clamp. If it has a crank and fires fuel, Timing Buddy™ reads it.

Electronic engines only

Fast enough to capture every stage of a modern multi-stage injection event: pilot, pre, main, post, and after injection, all on a single display. Up to 5 events per firing cycle, fully resolved.

FINDS THE DEAD CYLINDER

By watching crank speed between firing events, Timing Buddy™ spots the cylinder that isn't pulling its weight and flags it right on the tool's screen, with the full balance report in the companion app. No teardown, no wiring into the truck. Electronic engines use the stock crank sensor. Mechanical engines use the pickup target. No handheld tool on the market does this on a fully mechanical engine. Until now.

Proven live · July 2026

Blind test on a running 6-cylinder diesel: we unplugged one injector without telling the tool which, and Timing Buddy called the right cylinder. See the Build Log below.

BLE TO PHONE

Streams data to a companion app via Bluetooth 5.0. Log runs, compare events, submit engine data requests to expand the library.

WIRELESS UPDATES

Signed firmware updates delivered over Bluetooth or WiFi, straight to the tool. If an update gets interrupted, the tool rolls itself back to the last good firmware. No bricked tools. The unit you buy today keeps getting new features for years.

ENGINE LIBRARY

On electronic engines with a known crank signal, reference directly off the ECM signal. Don't see your engine? Request it through the app and we'll add it.

How It Works

TimingBuddy watches two things at once and measures the angle between them: where the engine is, and the instant fuel actually fires. That angle, in crankshaft degrees, is your real timing. Measured on the running engine.

STEP 01

FIND THE ENGINE'S POSITION

A laser optical pickup reads a strip of reflective tape on the crank pulley, marking exact crank position on every revolution. It works on any engine, with no electronics required. On electronic engines it reads the engine's own VR or Hall crank & cam sensors instead.

STEP 02

CATCH THE FIRING EVENT

Mechanical diesel: a piezo clamp on the injection line. Electronic diesel: backprobe the injector. Modern gas: backprobe the coil primary. Older gas: an inductive clamp on the plug wire. However your engine delivers fuel and fire, TimingBuddy hears it.

STEP 03

READ THE ANGLE, LIVE

The degrees between position and event are your true timing, on screen to a tenth and updating as the engine runs. Advance it and watch it move. Retard it and confirm it. No guessing.

One tool that does the job of a timing light, a diesel injection timing meter, and an injection-strategy scope, and gives you an exact timing number on screen for any engine.

In Action

Timing Buddy on the running engine with its red laser lit on the crank target, screen locked at 2.2 degrees BTDC

LOCKED ON THE ENGINE

The laser pickup lit on the crank target of the running OM926. Locked, 2.2° BTDC at idle, right on the tool's screen.

The printed crank pickup target for the OM926 held in one hand, marked at TDC

THE PICKUP TARGET

The crank target, marked at TDC and sized per engine. Light enough to hold in one hand. The tool self-calibrates to it, so a hand fit is all it needs.

The crank pickup target seated on the crank damper of the engine, ready to read

MOUNTED IN SECONDS

The target seated on the crank damper, ready to read. No drilling, no wiring, nothing permanent on the engine.

Earlier development photos

Timing Buddy showing live timing on Mercedes OM926

LIVE TIMING DATA

Timing Buddy™ displaying live degrees before TDC on a running Mercedes OM926. Real data, real engine, no guessing.

Timing Buddy calibration data during development

DEVELOPMENT & CALIBRATION

Calibration data during development setup. Every sensor input is validated against known references before a single measurement is trusted.

Real-World Applications

SET TIMING WITH CONFIDENCE

Stop guessing and stop relying on marks that may have never been right to begin with. See the actual event, referenced to actual crank position, live.

FIND THE WEAK CYLINDER

Cylinder balance testing on a fully mechanical engine has never been available in a handheld meter. Until now. Know exactly which cylinder isn't pulling its weight before you start pulling heads. Proven in a live blind test: one injector unplugged on a running inline six, and Timing Buddy™ named the cylinder.

VERIFY A TUNING CHANGE

Advance the timing, watch what actually moved. Retard it, confirm it. No more assuming the adjustment did what you thought it did.

MEASURE INJECTION DURATION

Not just when it fires, but how long, and in how many stages. Modern injectors fire up to 5 discrete events per cycle: pilot, pre, main, post, and after injection. Timing Buddy™ captures all of them. (Electronic engines)

Pricing

GET IN EARLY.
PAY LESS. GET MORE.

First Run · 50 Units Only

Early Supporter Price

$850

Retail $1,350

First production run unit, first off the line
Lifetime direct support: you reach Michael, not a help desk
5 year warranty on defects in materials and workmanship
User-replaceable battery: standard LiPo, swap it yourself
Your feedback shapes the final product
Priority shipping when units are ready
Early access to app and firmware updates

Retail · Coming Soon

Standard Retail Price

$1,350

Production unit
Standard warranty
App + firmware updates
Available after the first run closes

The first run is 50 units. This isn't a marketing tactic. I hand-build every one, and 50 is what I can deliver on time. The $850 price ends when the 50th unit sells or on August 1st, whichever comes first. First run backers get lifetime direct support, a 5 year warranty, and a user-replaceable battery. After that, the price is $1,350 with standard warranty. If you work on engines for a living, you already know what accurate timing data is worth.