timing grief?
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From: airdrie alberta
timing grief?
took out my #1 plug and checked top dead centre,and the rotor wasn't sitting towards #1 so i pulled out dist and reset and it made things worse so i put back where it was but the dist is turned all the way clockwise.it starts and idles fine just when i'm in gear & give her gas she starts to pop and backfire.if i turn dist back counter clockwise motor wants to die so i'm pretty sure timing chain is stretched.any ideas on what else i can look at or do i need to do a timing chain & how much grief will that be?thanks for any help you guys can give.
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From: chicago burbs
stock distributor cap? first thing is check to make sure that the #1 wire is on the cap tower that is marked #1. we are talking about #1 cylinder being the first cylinder on the left side of the engine as you stand in front of your truck. if we are on the same page so far, set the engine to #1 TDC firing position. the rotor should be pointing at the 1:00 position, and the vacuum nipple should be about straight forward. it gets a little tricky when you drop in the dizzy, the rotor will turn with the angle cut of the gears. start dropping the dizzy with the rotor pointing at about the 12:00 position(maybe 12:30?) and when it sets all the way down it'll be near the 1:00 position. easy way to get the dizzy to drop onto the oil pump shaft is to bump the starter by tripping the solenoid on the fender well, it'll drop right in. then rotate the engine all the way around to #1 TDC to verify position. repeat if necessary. after a couple tries you'll be an old pro and it'll only take 2 minutes. all this depends on that your balancer is not spun though! if your #1 piston is not at TDC when the timing marks say it should be, you may need a balancer.
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From: airdrie alberta
before i pulled dist i put it tdc and rotor was at about noon and dist was all the way clockwise.when i pulled dist and reset to tdc no matter which way i adjusted dist truck would not start.that is what is making me think chain is stretched.only other thing i can think of truck use to be on propane,so i'm wondering if timing needed to be set different to accomodate the hotter temps?i'm leaning to a timing problem because like i said it starts and idles fine,just when i stomp on her she wants to pop & backfire.if i change chain i'm thinking of a new dist also.
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From: PacNW
Timing chain stretch is a possibility but I'd spend more time trying to eliminate everything else first before I started tearing the front of the motor off. Check your distributor cap very carefully. Look for small, hairline cracks which can cause exactly the symptoms you're experiencing.
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From: airdrie alberta
brand new cap,rotor & plugs when i bought truck.now it is strictly gas no propane new carb,tank,sending unit and fuel lines.trying to go by what grclark351 mentioned my hose tip for vacuum, on dist is all the way clockwise and that's where the motor will run decent except for hard pedal when in gear.should i try to turn dist back the other way & turn up idle screw or am i right in thinking chain is nfg?
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From: airdrie alberta
well that's part of why i think chain is stretched is when i pulled out dist and got to TDC the *^%$^^ truck wouldn't start so i had to put it back where it was set at.i'm not sure what i should do,leanig towards a sledge hammer right now cause my blood pressure is way up there.any other suggestions would certainly be appreciated.
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From: chicago burbs
a timing chain job isn't that big of a deal. i've done it in about 3 hours before, on a fresh engine that already had the timing cover trimmed for sneaking it back in without dropping the oil pan. if there is any nylon missing from the cam sprocket it'd be a good idea to drop the pan and clean the pickup screen thoroughly or replace. that nylon can find its way through the screen and take out the bearings. the only special tool you'll need is the puller for the balancer. make sure you use the steering wheel type puller that bolts into the center of the hub and not a gear puller that grabs the outside ring.
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From: airdrie alberta
not sure what you mean by cover being trimmed but i think i need to drop oil pan any way because there are all kinds of leaks underneath truck.anything else i should change if i decide to do it myself?
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From: chicago burbs
once you get it apart you'll see, the internal rail on the timing cover that holds the front pan seal can be notched at the ends so that it can be snuck back in. without trimming the little corners off the ends it'd be VERY difficult if not impossible? a little dab of silicone and i've not had one leak yet XXX(fingers crossed). or you could just put the oil pan back on last since you have other leak issues. (those could be the notorious intake manifold end seals) if money is no object i'd give it a high volume pump while you're in there, it can't hurt. and make darn sure that screen is clean! some of them have a strap of metal across the pick-up that covers a hole in the screen, and a surround of metal that covers the outer edge of the screen. nylon from the timing gear is usually packed tight under the metal and some of it gets through the hole sometimes. i used a tin snip to trim off the surround on the last one i did, it was packed full under there. cleaned it all off and she was good to go.
Last edited by grclark351; Jan 2, 2006 at 05:48 PM.
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From: chicago burbs
on one i did i used a couple washers and a nut and bolt to close the hole but that's kinda cheezy, you might be better off getting a new one if need be? they aren't that much. how many miles on that engine?
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From: airdrie alberta
the odometer reads 58700 but i'm in canada and i'm not sure if it's miles or kilometers and if the odometer is original.the screen your talking about,would that come with a new oil pump?
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From: airdrie alberta
thanks for info.just talking to a friend and he thinks my cam might be going or the timing is out 180 degrees.i can't see the motor running anywhere normal with timing that far out,and if cam was going that shouldn't effect timing?any thoughts?