what is the best way to set the timing on one of these motors. I am pretty good with motors, but i have never had any luck trying to mess with timing. Is there something i'm missing or what? Thanks

 

Sorry for the lack of info, Its out of a 87 f250 manual transmission, fuel injected. I'm not sure what type of ignition I have.

 

I think it's just like the carb 300, which goes like this:

1. Disconnect the vacuum line that runs to the distributor (vacuum advance), and cap off the vacuum lines. They recommend a golf T for the line, or something similar.

2. Loosen the single bolt that holds the distributor down, loose enough that you can turn it, but not too much that it'll wobble on it's own.

3. Find the timing marks on the engine block. On mine, they are on the passenger side, right behind the crank pulley. If your engine is greasy, you may need to do some cleaning.

4. Put a timing light on the spot, and then rotate the distributor to advance or retard the timing. A mark on the pulley (usually a notch) will let you know where the timing is at as it lines up with the timing marks. If you're alone, you'll need to make minor adjustments, and then check again. The distributor and timing marks are on different sides of the engine, so unfortunately, you can't watch and adjust at the same time.

5. Get the timing where you need it, tighten down the distributor, and then check the timing again to be sure the tightening of the bolt didn't move the distributor. If it's good, hook up the vacuum advance to the distributor again and you're good to go!

 

FI motors are somewhat different. If it's like others, you have to locate and remove the SPOUT connector that is in the wiring harness going to the distributor - AFTER you have the engine warmed up and have shut it down. Then, attach a timing light - sensor to the #1 wire, battery leads to the battery (+ to +, - to -). There should be a placard decal under the hood somewhere that tells you what the base timing is supposed to be (or get a Haynes / Chilton's Manual for your truck or check the online repair guide at autozone.com). Once you have that info, if it helps, mark the pointer and the correct timing mark on the crank balancer. Start it up, check it, if it's off, then you'll want to loosen the distributor enough to be able to move it, but not too loose. With it running and checking the marks with the light, move the distributor to see which way you need to go to line up the marks. Once it's set, lock the distributor down, shut the engine off, reconnect the SPOUT connector and you're pretty much done.

 

Sorry, but that doesn't sound a whole lot different than what I just explained.

The extra info was useful though. Definitely want the engine at full operating temperature.
The spout is the connection on the distributor for the advance. The FI must have an electrical instead of vacuum connection. Other than that, it's the same.

 

Yep, pretty much. I probably could have just said that there was no vacuum line or vac. advance and pointed toward the electrical connector.

 

I can't really see the mark on the distributer. How can i find top dead center, or something to help find the mark.

 

There isn't a mark on the distributor.

There are timing marks on the engine down near the crank pulley and then a "notch" on the pulley itself. The marks are numbered, and the notch (when a timing light is pointed at it), will sit in front of a number to tell where the timing is.

I know this isn't the 300, but the idea should be the same. This is where the timing marks are:

 

I'm sorry i said it wrong. There isn't a notch on the crank pulley. I can see where someone made a mark with a marker, but i don't know if its right or not.

 

Hrm...it may be hard to spot, but it's an actual physical notch that's cut into the metal (not something that goes away with time.) You may have to run your hands around it to feel it, but it should be there (side towards the engine.) Once you find it, it's usually a good idea to fill it with something like whiteout, white chalk, or something similarly visible.

 

The mark on the damper for timing is a THIN scribed line that is often obscured by or filled with dirt, if you find a large 1/4 inch or so actual notch , that is NOT the timing mark. You will have to climb under and clean the rim of the damper to find the line, it is probably where you say it some one has marked it. To time an engine you really don't need to know where top dead center is unless the distributor has been removed. While you are underneath see if you can see the timing plate bolted to the timing cover on the passengers side. Has what look like large saw teeth on it and numbers---10 degrees Before TDC is the standard timing for a 300. Then do what --kernel-panic --described in his post. It is not easy to see the timing marks from above let alone get a timing light on them from above or at least on mine a 1990 it isn't.

 

I ended up sanding down the balancer on my 2.9, repainting it and filling in all the marks with while paint and then cleaning off the 'overpainting'. Sometimes the marks are a PITA to find, but they are there. Takes some cleaning and all.

 

I finaly found it , right where yall said it was, thanks.

 

I know I'm kind of reviving an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one:

From what you guys have talked about it seems that the engine runs pretty much normally when the vacuum line is pulled off the distributor? I remember once I forgot to re-attach the vacuum line to the distributor after doing some work and it ran really terribly and barely started; I figured this bad running was normal because the vac line was off but after reading the above I wonder if my timing is really off or something making it run bad w/out the vac line hooked up...

How can I set my timing with a vac gauge? I doubt this part of the engine has been looked at much by the previous owner....

1986 F250; 300 six, 1bbl carb, manual 4 speed, 240,000 kms.

Thanks