Good Morning Folks,
As I've been very slowing working out the kinks in my truck, timing was something I've been meaning to check into but haven't gotten around it it until now.

My engine always feels like there is power but the power seems minimal. I know it's old, I know the 302 is not the best truck engine so on and so forth... what really made me go check the timing is hard starts. Once I get the truck warmed up it seems as though I need to fart around with pumping the gas and several attempts to start her up. Timing came to mind.

SO after marking the balancer, plugging the vac advance, placing trans in neutral and hitting the balancer with the timing gun, it looks as though my truck is timed at 18* BTDC.

The emissions label say 8* BTDC and in my research I have come across varying numbers from 10* to 14* which seems to be the common ground.

Other than hard starting, my engine runs pretty dang smooth for having 165,000 miles on it. It doesn't ping/knock although I've also always ran 89 or 93 octane in it. The few extra cents only adds up to a few dollars difference at the end of the year...

That being said, what are your thoughts on this? Should I retard the timing to make it 14, 10 or the appropriate 8* as specified on my sticker? or does this sound like it will open a world of problems? Problems such as run-on, pinging and knocking, etc... and if I do retard the timing what are the benefits? Do you think this will help with easier starting once the engine is warm and boost power a little bit? Also how does this affect fuel mileage? Seems to me if the timing is off and lessening "power" and retarding it increases power a little bit my fuel mileage might actually go up?

Just to preface all of this, I'm not a totally unfamiliar with things, I just don't have an abundance of experience in this area and what site searching and google searching has only left me with more inquiries.

Thanks for your input! It is much appreciated.

 

keep timing at 10-13 .18 is WAY too much (only good if engine is done up with aluminum heads etc and with premium gas).try it at 12(89 oct)- or 14(93 octane) and see what the engine likes

 

Generally, if you retard the timing, your idle speed will slow down(may need re-adjusting) and your power will go down. There is nothing wrong with experimenting, now you know where you started at. You can easily put it back after the experiment if you do not like the results.

Usually if the timing is too advanced, the truck will crank over slow when it's hot. It doesn't affect it firing off, just the cranking speed and the starter has a hard time turning it over. Also look at the balancer. If you have lot of oil leaks, the rubber in the balancer may be getting old and the balancer outer ring with the numbers on it can slip some. Keep that in mind, sometimes you cannot believe the numbers if this has happened, and you just have to go by how it runs.

 

Amen! Whatever works best is what you should use. But there is such a thing as too much timing, so back it down some and see what you think of the way it runs. Oh yes, I should have said that Rusty's 351M seems to run best at 16˚ BTDC.