where is it at. It is the truck in my sig. I cannot find it. I have done it on an 87 F-150 with a 300, but things are in a different spot. Plus, how much different will it be if I don't hook it up at idle? Thanks.

 

Had to look for the same thing when setting timing on my 95. From what I discovered the spout connector is a two wire line into the throttle body. I am not a mechanic but i had a friend help me and that is what we found
Hope it helps.

Chris

 

on my 92 F-150 4.9 I-6 it is located on the left front fender next to the ignition module and on my 91 F-350 v-8 it is located at distributor

 

It should be very near the TFI module. If you unplug it, the computer cannot advance the timing, and the truck will run poorly.

 

My TFI is on the distributor. What color is the wire, and is there actually a connector I am looking for. I do know what it does, and for that reason, you need to unhook it to "time" the engine. Or actually align the distributors actual position to where the computer believes it is. What I don't know, is how much the computer will actually change the timing at idle with it hooked up.

 

It is a 2 wire connector with a plug and there are no wires coming ou the other end. I hope that made sense. You need to disconnect it to adjust the timing, because this disables the computer from changing it, oherwise as you adjust the distributor the computer is going to try and compensate.
Bob

 

borin&strokin,


If your TFI module is on the distributor, as it should be for that year, the spout is a seperate wire pair that is just hanging out of the side of the distributor.

If your question was "how much can the computer really compensate at idle while you adjust the timing with the spout connected", I can't really verify a firm number, but I am sure that it's range is limited before it sets a code and turns on the Check Engine light.

If your question was "can I adjust the timeing with the spout connected", the answer is, you can try, but the computer will try to compensate (at least to it's limits).

I hope this helps.

 

The computer doesn't know what the timing is - it just dials in advance. You could set base timing at 20 degrees and the computer wouldn't care. It would knock and ping and run terrible, but no codes would be set. The computer gets timing information from the distributor, and no matter where the distributor is turned, it gets the signal for cylinder 1 and advances things from there using inputs from the various sensors.

 

If the truck has never been timed the spout might still be taped to the wring harness and hidden. I wouldn't think so for an 88 but stranger things I have seen. If the base timing is some where in the neighbor hood of 10 degrees then with spout plugged in the advance will be some where in the 30 - 35 degree range and constantly fluctuating.

 

the computer will compensate up to 10 degrees.... unplug to time or check your timing be sure that after you time or test to plug it back in......

 

What do you mean the computer will compensate? Compensate for what?

 

The computer sets the advance bsed on input from several engine sensors. But the base timing without the computer is 10 degrees

 

For example;
My truck has a 300 in it. The base timing, which is the physical ignition timing, should be set to ten degrees. This is where the ECM believes that the timing is, and it adjusts the timing electronically from there. If I was to check the timing with a timing light, at idle, it would read 10 degrees advanced with the spout connector removed. However, with the spout connector in place, the timing would read 18 degrees advanced. This is because the ECM feels that 18 degrees advanced is optimum under the operating conditions that the sensors are telling it the truck is in. If I tried to adjust the timing with the spout connector in place, the ECM would be aware of this, and would try to compensate for it by retarding the timing electronically as I advanced it physically. The only way to change the timing, without the ECM trying to compensate, is by removing the spout connector while you are setting the timing. You then need to reinstall it after you are finished, and you will have "tricked" the ECM into accepting what ever your advance was as normal.

 

The computer gets its timing information from the distributor, so if you move that, you move the whole advance curve the same amount. The computer has no idea of what the engine position is other than what the distributor tells it. You can move the distributor all over, and unless the computer senses knock or a weird a/f ratio, it will run the same degrees of advance no matter what the initial timing is set at.