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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Problems after dizzy adjustment.

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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 07:54 PM
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Problems after dizzy adjustment.

I had problems with detonation after a dsII swap. I decided to install an adjustable vacuum regulator kit from Crane cams because without the vacuum attached it ran fine. It ran before, but after I put the distributor back in it seems like the timing is off. It spits fuel out of the carb. Like a backfire without the fire. According to the timing light it is spot on. But since the only thing I did was r&i the distributor. I know I did something wrong. I just don't know what. As far as I know I followed the instructions to the letter. I know if I had a spare distributor and I stuck it in there it would run like before. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas what I did wrong. Thanks.
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 08:37 PM
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Does it run at all?

Did you put the dizzy in at TDC compression, or TDC on the exhaust stroke?
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 08:40 PM
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And, are you sure the firing order is correct?
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by x_man586
According to the timing light it is spot on.
If it's running enough to check the timing, I don't see how it could be 180 off. I've seen issues like that if the timing is too retarded. Try setting timing using a vacuum gauge. Could be a timing mark issue..

Also check plug wires / firing order..
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 09:46 PM
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it is not running at all, but spinning the motor the light shows fire at 10*. I didn't check to see what stroke it was on. I guess I have gotten lucky the past few times by turning the crank till 0* was at the pointer. That is what it seems like though. I know my valve timing is correct. I installed a new timing set a few months ago. It must be that the ignition timing and valve timing is not in time together. I will pull out #1 plug and find tdc on the power stroke. Thanks
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 09:48 PM
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Maybe I got all of the complicated stuff right and screwed up the easy part.
 
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Old Feb 19, 2014 | 09:49 PM
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Yes, I'd bet you are 180 out. Might be easier to put #1 on TDC, pull the dizzy, turn the engine 360, and put the dizzy back. I think it'll run.
 
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Old Feb 20, 2014 | 12:23 AM
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Based on it not running; I'd agree with 180 out

I'm confused as I've never heard of checking timing by just cranking it over; it seems that somehow wouldn't be accurate but I'm no expert..
 
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Old Feb 20, 2014 | 06:03 AM
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Well, if it's DSII it will be 5-6*(?) retarded from the actual running timing.
 
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Old Feb 20, 2014 | 06:53 AM
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you are correct in that the only way to know your timing is perfect is for the engine to be running, but since I couldn't get it running I figured spinning over fast would be close. I do it that was so I can be under the hood when I am cranking the engine so I can see if I need to twist the distributor any. I figured we were just setting base timing anyway so if it was set to 8* before then if the engine started it wouldn't be too far either way. Normally it is not too far off. My problem was that I got about putting back together and skipped a step. We will know this afternoon
 
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Old Feb 20, 2014 | 09:11 AM
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What Jim means about it being 5-6 degrees retarded from running timing while cranking is that the good ignition boxes have a retard feature built in so it retards the ignition while cranking. So if you show TDC while cranking it'll be 5 or 6 degrees before TDC when running.
 
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Old Feb 20, 2014 | 12:58 PM
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That is good to know.
 
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