I have a 1988 Toyota 4runner with a 22r engine. I recently replaced the head gasket and am having trouble setting the timing. I attempted to set the timing following information I found online but the engine still will not start. It sounds like it is going to start but never does. I placed the engine at what I thought to be TDC on the compression stroke,aligned the timing marks and placed the cam shaft with the hole in the sprocket at 12 o'clock. I was told that if I had a small amount of slack between the cam lobes and the rocker arms, which it does, the engine was on the compression stroke. I placed the distributor with the rotor pointing towards the #1 plug wire. Is this the proper way to set the timing and could I have mistakenly set the timing 180* off? Also, if the engine is 180* off can I rotate the distributor 180* to solve the problem?

 

No, you can't turn the distributor 180 degrees. When the engine is at TDC on the compression stroke, both valves on number one cylinder will be closed.

 

You could pull the distributor, turn the crank pulley around one more revolution and reinstall the distributor. You' be better off confirming tdc though. Pull the valve cover and line up the crank pulley with the mark. Pull up on the front two rockers and they should be loose. If they aren't turn the crank pulley around one more revolution and then check the rockers again.

I just did a head gasket and put my distributor 180 in. It was making a lot of weird chugging noises when I tried to start it. I just did the above and found tdc.

 

Thanks for the replies. I just placed the engine at TDC, . The mark on the pulley, on the front of the engine, is aligned with the right outer edge of the metal plate that has the timing marks. I don't see any writing on this plate but it does have several notches.I pulled the valve cover off and the front two rockers has about 1/16" slack.The front lobe is pointing towards the passenger side of the car. The second lobe is pointing towards the drivers side.The hole on the cam shaft sprocket is pointing nearly straight up.It is about 1/2 of a chain link clockwise from the top. There is also a small notch next to the hole which is very slightly counter clockwise from the very top.The rotor is pointing towards the #1 plug wire. The engine will start for about a second then dies. Is the mark on the pulley,on the front of the engine, suppose to be aligned with the outer edge of the plate or aligned with one of the notches?

 

I'm not home to look at my truck, but the easiest way to find TDC if you can't read the pointer is to remove the number one spark plug put something like a pencil in the spark plug hole and slowly move the crankshaft until the pencil reaches the highest point. You are very close to TDC now. It won't take much movement to get there.

 

I placed a wooden dowel in the #1 spark plug hole and rotated the engine with a socket and ratchet until the piston was at the highest point. I'm not a mechanic but everything looks right to me but since the engine wont start I must be overlooking something. It ran great before blowing the head gasket. With the #1 piston at tdc and the lobes on the cam pointing to the side the engine would have to be on the compression stroke therefore the timing would not be 180* off?? Is my reasoning correct on this?

 

I found this photo on the internet.It's the same timing mark and plate as I have on my engine except mine doesn't have the numbers stamped on it. The video I found this on said to align the timing mark with the "o" I have mine aligned with the right edge of the plate. Would this difference be enough to worry about?

 

you are definitely not 180 degrees off. The rotor in the distributor should be just ahead of number one plug wire.

 

Thanks, will place the rotor just ahead of the #1 plug wire when I get home this evening. Thanks again for the help.

 

I'm pretty sure your distributor turns clockwise so the rotor should be just to the left of number one. Now make sure it is only about a quarter inch or less ahead of number one. The idea is to have number one fire just as the piston reaches TDC. Your final timing should be about 8 degrees before TDC.

 

I'm pretty sure your distributor turns clockwise so the rotor should be just to the left of number one. Make sure it is only about a quarter inch or so ahead of number one. The idea is to have the number one spark plug fire just as the piston reaches TDC. Your final timing should be about 8 degrees before TDC.