Hey guys new to the forum here. I have a 73 f-350 pickup. The guy I bought the truck from swapped in a 460 motor. I am trying to set the timing on it currently. I have usually always worked on Chevy’s. I set #1 at tdc but the groove in my harmonic balancer is way off. I notice a marked that is painted on the balancer and it is pretty close to where it should be but I would believe that I should go off of the groove. Any help would be nice. Thanks in advance.

 

Harmonic balancers have been know to slip, if it has you need to replace it. Those things can do some major damage if they come loose. Also make sure you are on top dead center on #1. I don't mean to insult your mechanical expertize, but did you stick you finger in the #1 plug hole and crank it until it blows out to make sure you were actually on the #1 tdc? That piston goes to the top more than once on a 4-cycle engine Good luck Gary

 

I thought the balancer might have slipped but I did not know if they did that on the older models or not. I know that on the newer ones they have that rubber bushing in there that causes that sometines. I know I am tdc cause I had my wife bump it over.Thanks

 

WB6VVV is right on target as usual. Your very first step is to establish that #1 Piston (the one at the front on the passenger or right hand side) is at TDC on the compression stroke. The rotor on the distributor will point to #1 on the cap also at this event.

If this is not the case get back on here for the next step.

 

"I know I am tdc cause I had my wife bump it over". What does this mean?? This is very ambiguous.

 

make sure u or in fack on #1 i dont know if ford and chevy or on the same side of engine

 

Well I have #1 established. And rotor is pointing at #1. I have gone through all these steps. Is it possible that my timing chain could have slipped and is causing this headache?

 

When I say I had my wife bump it over i means that I had her bumed the key while I had my finger in #1. I dont have one them fancy push button starters to do it myself.

 

#1 is front plug on pass side on a Ford (opposite of Chevy and Dodge).
ALSO cylinders are nmbered completely different (1-4 on Pass/5-8 on Drv) where Chevy and Dodge are odd on drv side and even on the pass side.

 

Ok I have established that number 1 is the first plug on th passenger side. So can we please cover some other details than that because that is really not getting me anywhere.

 

Ok, then if it is at TDC (compression stroke) then you can mark your balancer at the zero timing mark. As the others stated you are betting the the balancer did not slip at this point.

My experience says you may have a different balancer / flywheel or the timing mark (which typically bolts on) may be from a different motor. Either way it would explain why it doesnt line up and will work fine.

I am assuming the truck has run properly at some time during your ownership ruling out the potential timing chain installed wrong.

 

Yes the Timing chain can slip. It's prolly nylon and needs replaced. This happens more often than a balancer slipping. I would think it would vibrate severly if the balancer has slipped. Any nylon in the oil when ya drain the pan? This can also lock up an oil pump.

 

Yes the truck does run pretty good. I have drove it about 50 miles the past day or two. It is just having a couple of issues so I wanted to set my timing then adjust the carb. It was just that with the mark on the balancer being so far off it kept throwing me for a loop. I will just do like like you said and put a new mark on it and go from there.

 

Thats a band aid not a fix. To check yer timing chain remove the Dizzy cap and rock the engine back and forth by hand while watching the rotor cap. If the engine turns much at all before the rotor does than the timing chain and gears need replaced.

 

I recently had to work through a major timing issue on a, new to me, 460. Some yo-yo had, years ago set the timing incorrectly - at 8 BTDC but with vac connected rather than as the designers specified with vac disconnected (the definition of static timing if you will). Yep the result was it was actually running 20 deg retarded all of those years and to make it worse the dizzy was frozen for eternity when I got it. The resolution of my problem I have copied here but read my full thread also and it will bring you up to speed on timing and some of the things I got to deal with in the 460 world which is totally new to me.

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This is my final resolution from the thread copied to here for you......

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I finally advanced the timing by 20 degs without moving the dizzy. Trust me, this dizzy is NOT moving without complete breakage. I used every trick including building a dam with plumbers putty to keep the penetrants soaking it but to no avail. This thing is molecularly bonded in my opinion.

Here is what I did.

The idea came to me one night in bed. I got up out of my bed at 3am and went straight to the garage to execute my plan and the cost was zero.

I drilled a second hole in the vac advance lever circa 5/16 of one inch in from the existing hole. I then reconnected the dizzy plate to this new hole. This pulled the timing plate clockwise by said amount. (The full extent of the vac lever from 0 to full vac is about 3/8 of an inch). I sanded off some metal from the plate by the retaining pin to allow plenty of clearance for free motion.

Immediately the RPM went up and with vac disconnected I read 8 to 10 Deg BTDC. The engine has more power and no backfires or spitting.

The manifold vac works to perfection. I have full advance in place at idle and at cruise which is what is required. Lean mix needs earlier fire because it burns slower. Then when throttle opens the vac advance is removed which is the desired state to give later fire for the rich mixture thus assuring max pressure on the piston at close to optimum time.

I am now very happy with the engine and it is purring like a kitten. I pity the PO who had an incorrect timing (20 deg retarded) for so many years. I checked the timing chain slop. It is circa 5 degs which I am very happy with. (I only paid $200 for the truck!!). I expect to see a 1 or 2 mpg improvement also plus slightly less engine heat.

Based on my study I believe the direct man vac is better than a ported vac. The reason I say this is that the ported vac is not present at idle so one is running too retarded for a lean mix. The engine will run hotter which is what the smog guys wanted. I say manifold vacuum is the very best way to go.

Thank all of you great folks out there for bearing with me while I was figuring this engine out. I hope my finding will help someone else.

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