I just got home from attempting to smog my truck. It passed all of the tests but failed because the timing was showing at 34*.It runs great, accelerates well but since they say that they can't verify the timing... failure. My best guess is that the outer ring on the balancer has slipped. Anyone else out there have this kind of problem? Oh by the way, it is a 1977 F150 with a 351M and C6.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

 

Do you have vacuum advance? If so, did they remove the hose from the distributor when checking the timing?

 

Is this in California?

I have had to deal with several iterations of emissions testing in Colorado and they never did anything with timing. Just the probe in the tailpipes and a sensor for the RPM.

Interesting situation.

Josh

 

Hmmm,, never had them check the timing on ANY of my smog tests,,, I would go to a different place if you can,, have them pre-sniff it,, then run it if it is clean,,, timing?! AYKM,, bunch of morons,, they want a nice idle speed and low NOX, and then 2500 and minimal NOX,, are you in a dyno county?

 

Yes it is California. The truck actually passed the sniffer test with flying colors but because the timing is showing at 34* on the balancer it failed. I know that it isn't at 34* at idle, I don't think an engine would run with this much advance at idle any way.

 

Try this, find tdc and mark it. Measure off from your *marks and mark new lines. I absolutely agree with taking it somewhere else to smog it. Pass or don't pay till they pass you.

Other than that you will need to pull one a jy or find a replacement thru a member here.

They did remove and plug the vac advance like someone mentioned? I think total advance with vac connected is 34* or so?

Good luck!

 

If they did the timing at high idle then it will Definately show 30+ with advance hooked up... I think your being scammed

Josh

 

I removed and plugged the vacuum advance hose when I checked the timing, it still shows over 30* at idle. The truck runs very good at this level, no pinging, so I am starting to think that the balancer outer ring has slipped. I put a vacuum guage on the carburetor port and with the engine idling there is no vacuum. When I rev the engine I get vacuum about 10".So I think it is time to replace the balancer. Thanks for the quick replies.

 

Do like I did MOVE out of Ca. I live south enough of Atlanta NO SMOG! Avid hotrodder. Big thing is Ca. doesn't want you to pass smog, they want you to junk it. My brother in SoCal gave up on his 80 El Camino and sold it. It's alive and happy in, Mexico. Ca is anti-old vehicle.

 

I used too work in a smog shop in Cali. THe rules are pass or park it and if the timing shows off it fails. I'm actually suprised that it past the visual inspection. Do you have all the factory stuff on it still??? If so post up a pic of under the hood I need something too work off of lol. Sorry about the
And good luck on the damper hunt.

 

I get one free re-test within 30 days, so I am going to replace the damper. Rock auto seems to have the best price on that. The truck has all of the original smog equipment in place and functioning. Also like I said earlier it passed the tailpipe test as well. So I guess my next step is replacing the damper...

 

1977 F150 351M/C6: Required CA emissions equipment for this truck if sold new in CA: PCV, Evaporative Emission, EGR valve, Thermactor Emission (smog pump), catalytic converter.

If the DSO code stamped on the Warranty Plate is either 71 or 72 .. the truck was sold new in CA.

 

One thing I cant stand about California... It should be about the emissions coming out of the tailpipe, and not stupid crap like this. All that stuff like testing the timing, Gas Caps, etc, should be done BEFORE the "sniffer" test anyway, not afterward. I suppose they do it that way so you have a better chance at failing the sniffer the next time so they can get that old dinosaur off the road quicker.

 

The DSO code is 72 and all of the required California emissions equipment is present and working. They just won't pass it with the timing showing 34*. I guess when I get my new balancer I will just have to compare it with the old one to see how far it is off.

 

Catalytic converter is not required for my truck as it is an F150 with a GVW of 6050 lbs