So, after mating a donor engine from the valves down with my intake manifold and accessories, I'm having some trouble getting the timing right. On instalation the timing was waaaay off. Lots of piston slap and no power, even for a 3.0.
Turned the distributor back to the full stop and the best I can get is 18 deg. BTC.
Now, I know the timing belt was done on the donor engine prior to my aquisition, but I'm wondering if it was set right on instalation. Now, to my questions...

1) Do I need to pull the distributor and re-install?
2) What are the effects of running at 18 deg.BTC?
3) Can I just shave a little more play into the disrtibutor housing/adjuster and turn it back to 10 deg.?

I know agrunner has his set at 12 deg. Just curious as to what to expect from that, besides better mileage.

Overall, I'm pleased with how the transplant went, and I love my runner again. And I sure know what Joey means when he says he misses his, after only 3 days. All in all, I was toyless for about 3 weeks. Thankfully, I did have a POS Sunfire to get around, and a Cherokee to beat up. But I'll tell you, once you drive a 4runner you'll never enjoy a Cherokee again!

 

If you have it as far as it can go maybe the distributor is in a tooth off?
I would also verify the timing belt is on correctly by checking that all the alignment marks line up correctly. You will need to pull the timing belt cover to do this but the piece of mind that all is well is worth it. Use the FSM to make sure you are doing the procedure correctly. Best of luck!

 

18 degrees is far too much. 10 degrees is stock and I run 12 - any more and I'm sure you'll ping without a lot of octane in the fuel. Pull the distributor and see if you can get that thing lined up correctly.

 

Yep, reset the distributor. Once you have the ignition timing right, and it still runs poorly, then verify cam timing.

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

 

Thanks for the input folks!
In removing the timing belt cover, is it required to do all the teardown needed to replace the belt? I really don't wanna go that far.
I think I'm gonna pull the distributor and see if that's the issue here.
It runs quite well, at this point, but I KNOW it's not quite right, so, I won't be content with the motor until it is. It's not quite the same as it was pre-surgery, but it's getting there and I love my runner once again

 

WAIT!!!!! Don't pull the distributer yet. After I had my HG replaced my timing was also way off. I too thought that they didn't put the timing belt on right. I took it back and it turned out being the TPS. If the TPS isn't adjusted correctly then it will throw the timing off, even in diagnostic mode.

Here is a great page on the TPS. It discusses how to set it. Also, down at the bottom of the page is the symptoms of a bad or misadjusted TPS. "Inability to correctly set base ignition timing" is listed there.

I hope you didn't start tearing things apart yet. This might be your problem.

Good Luck

 

Sure glad I didn't start playing midnight mechanic. I'm going to do a little more research before I get into the distributor or timing cover.

It's times like these that I really value this forum. Lots of great ideas from people like this.
IMHO anyone who is not a Contributing Member should sit back and consider:
"Have I received $10 in value from participating in this forum?"

I KNOW I have

And now, on with the research...