Motomeister

I went to pass my smog test on my newly acquired 85 pickup. The timing was at 23 degrees when it was supposed to be at 5. I went to adjust it back to where it should be but the mark on the pulley doesn't line up with the 0 mark at #1 TDCC.

What would be the procedure to make sure the #1 is in fact at TDCC and how would i go about adjusting the pulley to be lined up correctly?

83

Maybe you're not at TDC, so make another full revolution and see if it lines up then; but also, if the timing is set to 23 degrees, then of course it won't line up with the zero, otherwise your timing would be set to zero (or 5 or whatever you're trying to set it to). You adjust the timing by turning the distributer until the mark on the pully lines up with the zero. And you do this using a timing light. Or maybe I'm way off what you're asking?

tampabayota

are you jumping the connecters before you set the timing?

Motomeister

Got a timing light, jumping the jumper. I have it at TDCC, i verified looking through the spark plug hole and see the piston coming up and down. Also look at where the spark plug rotor on the distributor is pointing, which is at cylinder 1. re marked the pulley, set the timing to about 5-7 and went and got it tested and he said that it was at 20. Is my timing light just that far off?

okie81

You haven't messed with the distributor have you? Sometimes your timing can be thrown off a few degrees by having a tooth off

Motomeister

I have undone the nut that locks it in position and adjusted it. My problem is that with the timing light i have its coming up right at 5degrees. When the smog tech tested it with his 500 dollar snap on timing light it was at 20 degrees. I went home adjusted it back so its at like -10 and when he tested it again my timing was correct.

When he used the dyno to test it, the car didn't have enough power below 2000rpm to drive above 15mph. I am really confused.

Adam F

did you make sure you are on the compression stroke at tdc? crank pulley is keyed, only goes on one way. i would set it to tdc and re drop the distibutor.

Adam F

Your timing chain could have jumped a tooth too

Motomeister

i made sure it was at tdc compression by seeing where the distributor was sparking at when the #1 piston was at the top of its stroke. and then the mark on the pulley should be lined up with 0 but it wasn't And that would have nothing to do with the distributor or the timing chain, just tdc and the pulley on the crank. Am i seeing this correctly?

83

You may know more than me and I'm not helping, but it looks like you said you re-marked the pulley? If the pulley was at 20 at TDC, that means your timing is set to 20. So you turn the distributer until you're where you want to be. If you marked the pulley as being at zero when it's actually at 20, then there's your problem. Right? The mark on the pulley is where it's supposed to be, am I wrong? I don't think your supposed to re-mark it, because you see the #1 plug is being pointed to by the rotor. There's some room for error there, and that's where timing comes in. So your actual pulley notch needs to line up with 5 to be at 5, not a new line you made.

The way to get the notch to line up where you want it, if your #1 plug is being pointed to and you're on the compression stroke not the exhaust stroke, is by turning the distributer, not by re-marking the pulley. Am I way off here? Turning the distributer turns the cam gear, which moves the timing chain which moves the crank.

Adam F

The piston will be at the top of its stroke at 2 different points. You need it to be on its COMPRESSION stroke. Put your finger over the spark plug hole, and rotate the engine until you feel pressure building in the cylinder. (NOT sucking) This is correct TDC.

Its also possible the rubber on the harmonic balancer has detached from the pulley and rotated. If so, this will rotate the timing marks on the pulley and throw everything off. Replace the balancer if this happens.

Also possible that the cam wasnt properly timed with the crank when the timing chain was installed. If so,m you'lll need to re-index the cam by taking the timing chain off and resetting the cam/crank.