I don't know what I'm doing wrong here and I want to double check before I do anything.

I loosened the bolt that I'm assuming is the one I'm supposed to, at the base of the distributer but can't make the distributor turn.

Second, I've seen from varying sources to turn clockwise and counterclockwise to advance and I want to double check before I go the wrong way.

 

On your crank shaft damper clean it well from under the truck. There will be a degree 10Degrees before top dead center mark. If you get under and don't see it just get in the truck and bump the key and look again it will roll over you'll get it were you can see it.I use white out for paper and make a mark at 10 degrees and let it dry.My dads 96 f150 4.9L and other EFI engines have a spout conntor or pill so called and what it does is it doesn't let the engine advance from the computer you HAVE to remove this. On our 4.9L the pill is located on the driverside firewall near the TFI module once located. With everything hooked up let her warm up to normal temp now shut off engine remove the pill or spout connector and hook your timing light up to the light you have by directions they usally hooked to battery pos/neg and number 1 plug wire and start engine. With your timing light you have to look from the passside down to crank damper you should see your white mark you made with white out it should be lined right up with the pointer and yes it will have a point on the end.To line timing marks loosen bolt distributer YES they can be kinda froze what I call it so be careful use both hands try to get it free. At times I have had to stop the engine and put some *** in it to get it free.If you turn the distributer counter clockwise it will advance it and engine RPM will increase,clockwise retards it slowes rpms it down if I remeber right. Now if it frozen and hard to free and it moves way out of wack amd your truck doesnt start becareful have some crank engine and start moving the distributer to where the crank pointer goes to the white mark you made with your timing light or as you start to just play with it it should start anuff to get it in time. When the crank pointer and 10degree line is lined up remeber to tighten the distrubter down(it allso grounds your igition system too) and double check after done tighting down sometimes they move on you. shut off engine plug spout connector in remove light test drive. I hope this helps

Justin

 

Thanks for the help, it should help me get it. I need to see if I can get it moving before I start the engine. I'm going to paint a line on the distributor to mark where it was so I can always go back. I've never messed with one before, I was going to try to get it around 14 degrees btdc and go from there. Everything I've seen this far says that is the sweet spot.

 

he distributor will freeze up sometimes and be hard to break loose. Just pick a wire on the cap close to a fixed object, loosen the bolt at the base and break it loose. It may take a tad of penetrating oil, but it will go. Once its loose move the distributor back close to the original position using the fixed point you picked, as long as its close it will start.

The timing marls on a 4.9 are different from the 5.0. There are two notches cut into the harmonic balancer, one thin and one wide, on the 4.9. You will be using the thin one to set your timing. On the passenger side of the timing cover is the timing tab, it looks like it has lots of teeth with a large notch offset from the center. The large notch is 10 BTDC, which is factory timing. If you move the timing mark farther down the tab toward the passenger side you will be advancing the timing, toward the drivers side will retard it.

You will need to pull the spout connector before setting the timing, it is in the corner where the firewall and drivers fender meet as said above. I would recommend getting the distributor loose while the engine is cool, then warm it up to set timing.