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

setting timing (chain)

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Old Feb 8, 2002 | 07:06 AM
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From: seabrook usa
setting timing (chain)

I need to know how I go about setup the timing after replaceing
the timing chain.
Do i line up the key from the bottom crank and the pin on the came not to sure? they are no marks on anything
I have the piston at top dead,
 
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Old Feb 8, 2002 | 07:47 AM
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From: Durham
setting timing (chain)

What size engine and what year?
 
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Old Feb 8, 2002 | 02:15 PM
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setting timing (chain)

You have #1 piston at top dead center, but you don't know if it's the compression stroke or the exhaust stroke. One way to tell is to pull the valve cover, and turn the engine till the valves on #1 are shut. You can also turn the engine with your thumb over the sparkplug hole, and when it starts pushing air around your finger, you know you are on the compression stroke.

Find the #1 sparkplug wire on the cap, and point the rotor to it. Try to put the dist in, compensating for the rotor turning a little bit whe it goes in. If the dist won't go all the way in, take a small socket and extension, and turn the oil pump a little bit and try again. In the end, you want the dist fully seated with the rotor pointed to the #1 sparkplug wire. Then start it and set the timing.
 
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Old Feb 8, 2002 | 03:12 PM
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setting timing (chain)

Are you asking about replacing the gears and timing chain and how to line up the cam and crank???...or do you have the chain on and are trying to figure out how to reinstall the distributor?
 
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Old Feb 9, 2002 | 01:03 PM
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From: seabrook usa
setting timing (chain)

I have the motor broke down ( intake,heads,ect) the way it looks is that the timing chain jumped time,( lots of playin the current chain) and now I'm replacing the chain and sprocket, how do I insure I have the correct line up so that the cam is not out of time, it's a 302fi ford 4x4
 
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Old Feb 9, 2002 | 02:45 PM
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setting timing (chain)

There are little marks (usually small round impressions on front of the sprockets) on each. Line these up (top sprocket mark at 6 o'clock, lower sprocket mark at 12 o'clock).
 
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Old Feb 10, 2002 | 01:27 PM
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setting timing (chain)

 
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Old Feb 10, 2002 | 02:35 PM
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setting timing (chain)

There's a variation of those marks you should know about...

On some gear&chain sets (my preferrence) there are 3 sets of marks.

Each gear will have a square, a circle, and a triangle. They will also have 3 seperate key-way slots.

The reason is so that depending on wether you want high-end torque, low end torque, or a stock build these seperate key-ways are offset just a fraction. For high end power you want the valves to open earlier, and for low end "GRUNT" power they should open a fraction less early (if I remember right).

But the trick is to make sure the squares line up with eachother, or the pair of triangles, etc.... If you mix a square and a triangle mark the engine will be so far out of time it can't possibly run.

This setup is helpful, but is no substitute for a good cam in the first place. And for those who've never seen this before, hey! Something new every day, right?
 
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