OK, rookie question. I replaced my dist and coil. Whoever did the overhaul on the 300 painted the timing marks but they do not line up. The engine runs great but I can't see any timing marks with my light. I noticed a set of marks on the timing gear cover and the standard looking "saw-tooth" style pointer on the oppisite side of the engine. Any advice? I don;t want to run the engine too much without it on proper time. oh, it's a 1968 carb. engine. Thanks, Barry

 

This oughta be a FAQ by now...

Do a search for this, the bottom line is that you should use the passenger side timing marks.

 

Hi here is an answer to timing ,that I had written to another person on this board some time back. I hope it helps.This is based on an EFI 1990 300 that I own.

Hi, Ok here goes. Ford in all its infinite wisdom put two sets of timing marks on the 300. There is one set on the right hand side near the top of the timing cover, these marks are cast in the cover. These naturally are the WRONG marks. On the left side of the timing cover where you can't see them are the right marks. They are on a metal plate bolted to the cover using the cover bolts. The vibration damper also has two sets of marks, wouldn't you know it! There is a large square notch , nope not the right one . There is also a very thin scribed line on the damper, yep that is the right one. .
To do this right, slide under the engine and clean off the thin scribe line and paint it white and while you are under there you can see the bolted on timing mark on the cover there is a large triangle cut in the plate , that is 10 degrees before TDC the correct setting .Pull your distributor cap and crank the engine until the rotor points at number one cyl on the cap.Then see if you can see the alignment of the timing mark on the damper some how and the mark on the bolt on plate, its easier when the engine isn't running and you can stick your head in there without loosing half of it. Your timing marks should be some where near each other. Crank the engine to align the 0 degree mark and the mark on the damper, don't worry about the distributor position. Just line up the marks. Then go to the right side of the cover with the cast in marks( that you can see) and mark the damper with white something, paint even whiteout works.Now you have a new timing mark that you can see. Pull the spout, yes it is in the same harness as the distributor connector, its a gray jumper.Put the cap back on. Start the engine and use your new marks to set the timing at degrees before TDC.
Of course this only works if your cover has the cast in marks, I have a 90 and it has the marks. I have just finished assembling the engine and found out that the engine was set using the damper line and the cast in marks. I figure the engine was running 40 degrees retarded, but MAN did ever start quick in any weather with any oil at any temp.
There are other way to do this but it takes too long to describe them here.Sorry I almost forgot. When you mark the damper with the new mark it should be marked the same as the left side original, i.e.--
if the original marks are aligned at 0 you should paint your new mark to align at 0 also, if the original is at say 6 your new mark should be painted to be in line with 6 on the cast marks and so on.

stractor

 

1968F100....I really am sorry about jumping in here but this post has raised some questions for me and it may help us both.

I just checked my timing (first time) 1995 EFI.
I disconnected the SPOUT (single wire).
Found the passangerside marks and the mark on the crank pulley. (Found it after I couldn't see any mark using the driverside scale so I went looking with the light)

At idle it jumps a bit. But I am at the bottom end of the scale (marks furthest from the notch).

I read the above but need to ask:
1. What RPM do we test at?
2. The notch on the scale...are you saying it is 10 BTDC? So mine is like 20?
3. At 1000ish RPM it holds steady about 3 marks from the bottom of the scale.
4. At 2400ish RPM it holds steady at the bottom of the scale.

Can you see my confusion? Thank you for the info above.

 

1968F100....I really am sorry about jumping in here but this post has raised some questions for me and it may help us both.

I just checked my timing (first time) 1995 EFI.
I disconnected the SPOUT (single wire).
Found the passangerside marks and the mark on the crank pulley. (Found it after I couldn't see any mark using the driverside scale so I went looking with the light)

At idle it jumps a bit. But I am at the bottom end of the scale (marks furthest from the notch).

I read the above but need to ask:
1. What RPM do we test at?
2. The notch on the scale...are you saying it is 10 BTDC? So mine is like 20?
3. At 1000ish RPM it holds steady about 3 marks from the bottom of the scale.
4. At 2400ish RPM it holds steady at the bottom of the scale.

Can you see my confusion? Thank you for the info above.

If all this is true and my timing IS really messed up it would explain a lot.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal.../82807.520.390

Here is a pic of my mark. Green is the big notch and the white is my actual mark and where it is during the test.

 

I just spent 30 mins with WD-40 and a cloth. Twisting my 6'1" 240lb body in 90 degree weather the clean the scale.

The big notch IS 10 BTDC. So mine is reading about 26 BTDC. I will adjust and pray that my ping goes away.

 

Adjusted to the mark (10 BTDC) and took it for a ride....

With A/c on and going up hills......No PING/Rattle.

Can mat it and I get revs with no extra noises.

Very nice...Finally.

I even had it too 75mph for the first time.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to reset the PCM so it can relearn.

 

this helped me a lot. i thought for some reason the "deep V notch" was zero degrees, so i set my timing advance light to 10 degrees and put the mark at the notch, which i just learned made it actually 20 degrees BTDC lol. set it properly and idles better now, also doesnt lunge when you go from park to Drive or reverse. no more ping under heavy acceleration either

Im able to see my marks fairly easy on the passenger side, 88 f250 inline 6.

 

have 1982 stepside-F100 6 cyl, 4 spd OD, have the same marks on the timing cover which I set timing by, and the pass side with the bolted on...mine isupposed to be 6 degrees before. Going back out and try again, it was off when I purch it a week or so ago, lope @ idle, new . oil,plugs, cap, rotor, brain on fender, pcv, vac line off carb, all needed replacing covered in Texas white/red dirt...needed some TLC, has Clifford cast black valve cover, did compression check also. I know this is ancient thread, I know someone else is looking at the wrong timing marks though. That is just goofy, to put two mark places on the same motor... thanks for letting me vent, be back later...its only 104 today. I did buy it as a project...living up to its side of the bargain, is inspected and registered though.

 

Hmmm I'm thinking this might help me out as well I just pick led an 84 f150 300 I6 1bbl and t18 30k original documented miles first time ran in 15yrs ive done vaccum lines cap rotor etc. Carburetor rebuild has terrific throttle response but really rough idle ive been playing with the timing for about a week now using the bolt on plate on passenger side never noticed the second mark my manual never mentioned it either but was wondering could someone possibly post some pics of the marks lined up?? Thank you the thread was extremely informative and also are there baby other california friendly improvements I can make to my I6??

 

On my 94 efi engine, the marks on both the drivers and passenger side show the same timing. Of course you use different marks on the balancer. Unless the timing is way off, I don't even see the other mark for the other side.
I use 10° BTDC

 

I had the same problem with my truck turned out the dampner slipped on balancer. Timing marks wouldn't line up. A thin line on the balancer should line up with the mark on passenger side of motor with number one cylinder up.

 

pull the number one spark plug out. notcie wich way the belt move while cranking ingine.. put wadded up dum dum wrappers or a napkin in the number one hole.. tunr key on an off real fast until napkin or dum dum wrappers pops outta the hole an hits you in the head (face, shoulder e.c.t....)... put screwdriver in hole./.. turn damper pulley by hand (screwdriver should rise not fall)until top dead center(you can tell top dead center because the screw driver will quit rising)..turn damper pulley oppisite way until screw driver falls 1/4 inch...slightyl loosen distributor nut(lol bag *****s do this **** all the time)))...enough so that its tight but you can turn it with some effort..ground spark plug from number one with the wire on it.... turn the ignition on turn distributor until spark plug is sparking... put spark plug back in(remove screwdriver first)..start vehcile with jumper cables an a nother vehicle....smniff exaust smell real rich, nudge distributor, sniff nudge distributor sniff until no smell rich......start an stop vehicle nudge distributor until starts easily with out strain.....fckinin done
crazy paul

 

So, would this same info also be true on the older models ? we are working on a 1969 F100 with a 300 . I am have been using the marks on the timing cover trying to set the timing with the light. Runs like crap ( no power at all ) when set at 14 degrees advance. We also used these marks to determine TDC and install the distributor. I am now thinking we are off a couple of teeth after reading this.