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Found the embossed timing marks on the top surface of the 300-6 cover, left side
There is supposed to be a "plate" on the lower right side mounted to front cover to find TDC for #1 piston.
What is the purpose of the plate with teeth?
Do not believe the timing light is be aimed at this lower plate to set timing.
There is supposed to be a scribe line on the dampener.
Question,
What is the timing procedure for the 300-6 using the top embossed timing marks?
Somehow the scribe line on the dampener and the embossed timing marks on the cover can be seen with the timing light.
The two notches on the harmonic balancer/pulley when set to TDC or your desired timing BTDC will match on both sets of marks .. Ensuring you are on the compression stroke the rotor should be pointing to #1 on the distributor cap if the distributor is in correctly .. In the picture the timing is at TDC .. You would be rotating counter clockwise for BTDC .. If you are in a position where it is easier to see the marks on the timing cover then with your finger nail feel that the other notch on the pulley is present in the area where the pointer is on the passenger side of the motor .. This is applys to the 300 six carbed motor ..
The embossed timing marks on my front cover are located on the top side surface in the upper right side of the photo, not the front surface like the photo indicats.
Will look further maybe there is another set of timing marks on the front cover like the photo.
With two belts installed dont understand how the notches on the dampener can be seen with a timing light.
Maybe the distributor spark timing is supposed to be set with the belts removed?
The donor vehicle for the 300-6 is Dec 1981 build date, carbureted manifold,
probably sold as a 1982 model.
There is no line of sight to view the top side surface timing marks and the notch on the dampener. Do not know the purpose of these timing marks.
The embossed timing marks on my front cover are located on the top side surface in the upper right side of the photo, not the front surface like the photo indicats.
On the 70's motor they are in both places on the timing cover ..
If your having trouble using a timing light with your configuration then just use the static timing method and then dial it in with a vacuum gauge ..
Remove the spark plug from cylinder #1 (the front one), then unplug the coil wire. Turn the engine over very slowly until #1 piston is at the top of rotation, on the compression stroke. You'll hear/feel air coming out of the spark plug hole. I usually insert a wood dowel into the hole to feel the piston rising. When you have the piston at top dead center, plug in the coil wire and turn on the ignition. With the spark plug connected to its wire, set it on a metal surface so it get ground. Now loosen the distributor and slowly turn it until the spark plug sparks. Then advance the dizzy in the opposite direction of rotation a tiny bit.
Slacken the distributor clamp bolt, and with the engine still at idle, advance or retard the ignition until the highest steady vacuum reading is obtained. Then retard the timing until the vacuum gauge reading drops slightly, approximately one half to one inch. In some cases, you may need to retard the timing up to two inches to prevent pre-ignition (pinging).
Note: If you can't get the reading into the "normal" zone by adjusting the distributor then valve timing is the problem.Timing with a vacuum gauge will normally result in timing that is more advanced than what specifications call for, so you need to be alert for any pre-ignition (pinging) in the engine and adjust accordingly (retard the timing if needed).
Took a small wire brush to the balancer and found the second notch as shown in the photo on the 1982 300. However, the shark tooth plate is missing
The two pulley belts, fan and pulley can be be removed to see the timing marks on the front cover.
The engine can run a short period of time without the water pump to set the timing.
Recently ran across a 1965 F100 with a 300-6.
This truck had only one belt for the water pump/alternator compared to the my 1982 300-6, which has two belts for the alternator
The timing marks on the front cover adjacent to the balancer on the 1965 ,
300-6 were quite easy to see with a timing light with fan, belt and two groove pulley installed.
My 1982 vintage 300-6 has two belts rather than one.
Impossible to see the timing marks with fan, two belts and three groove pulley installed.
My '85 F150 4x4, 4.9 I6, didn't have any timing marks that I could find.
I used a TDC finder and marked my own TDC mark.
I also timed it using the vacuum gauge method, then checked it with the timing light.
In my case, the 'optimum' with the vacuum gauge caused engine run-on when shut off when warm. It ran great though. I set it to factory specs using the timing light and my new mark; no more dieseling and runs great..
On my 300, both were accurate. I had two timing marks on my balancer and they lined up with both.
Because of that, I vastly preferred the timing marks on the timing cover because I could see them and reach the distributor at the same time. This made it a lot easier to turn the distributor and set the timing, since I could watch the timing mark move, as opposed to adjusting the timing and going over to the passenger side and looking at the little toothed indicator.
The best way to know is to pull out the #1 spark plug, shine a flashlight down the spark plug hole, and then rotate the engine until you can visually see the piston come all the way to the very top.
Then, look and see which set of marks has a notch on the balancer at (or close to) the zero mark.
If only one of them does, it may be an aftermarket replacement balancer. You can either just use that one, or you can take a small file and put your own mark to line up with the other side. I did this because an aftermarket balancer I got only lined up with the passenger side. I wanted a mark on the side that lined up with the timing cover.
If both do, use whichever you like.
If neither do, you need a new harmonic balancer since the vulcanized rubber has likely given way and it's slipping. If this is the case, you need to take care of this asap before it comes off the rest of the way while driving.
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