It can also be idle set too high. or fuel too rich.

 

That gas engine had the timing to fast, which made the cylinders hotter than normal, so when you turned it off it dieseled.

One diesels, that is how we are running.

When you turn the key off, power to the FSS is removed and a spring shuts the fuel off inside the IP.
But the IP is still pumping the fuel that was past the shut off valve when it closed.

 

ah ok.so that little .5-.8 or so second chug is normal then.(to the daily diesel driver,they probably got so used to this,that most dont notice,as its so slight)
thanks.
she idle's perfect,and not a sign of dark,or even slightly gray smoke when running (no sign of any color smoke in fact.just a little white smoke for the first min or so after starting the first time.)

 

Ok ... time for the dumb question ... I know gas engines ... old school timing was set with the distributor because that is what provided the sequencing to the spark plugs ... Diesels are compression ignition, no plugs ... no distributor ... The only thing electrical is the glowplugs ... on mine anyway ... 6.9 idi na ...I believe (tho I am probably wrong) that the timing is of the injector pump ... Where on the motor does timing adjustability come into play?

 

You turn the IP.

 

Just like turning the distributor? ... But what about the timing light? On gas it got its flashing from reading the current thru a plug wire ... And put the light on the timing marks ... I assume there are some timing marks to use but where does the timing light get its info from? ... No plug wires ...


I know ... Sometimes I can be rather thick ...

 

On an old V8 gasser you have 8 spark plug wires. On our V8 IDI's you have 8 injector lines.

You getting it!

You pick up a "PULSE" off the #1 injector line closest to the injector, and the timing mark on the dampner with the strobe.

 

So this has got me to thinking,(I know its a dangerous thing to do) if the harmonic balancer has slipped how would you know for sure were the timing is, and could you have it checked?, So wouldn't it just maybe be as accurate to time it by ear??

 

When the front of the engine is off, water pump and timing gear cover, you can see timing marks on the cam, crank and IP drive gears.
So then you set everything to TDC with those marks.

Now put the timing gear cover and harmonic balancer back on and see it it also indicates TDC.

Pulling the timing gear cover is a lot of work since all the mounting brackets for the AC, alternator, vacuum pump IP drive gear cover and power steering plus the water pump and timing gear cover have to come off to see any/all of the marks.

A few people that have removed the IP drive gear, drive gear cover and IP as one unit to swap the IP have reported you can use a butter knife to see the top timing mark on the cam gear without pulling everything, but that only lets you see one mark out of three.
The fourth mark is on the IP drive gear.

 

i have a factory rotunda tester and since i know a little bit about the engine i could tell real quick by looking at the meters reading that the balancer had slipped because of the timing degree displayed , if it has a lot of time or mileage on it you might as well bite the bullet and replace the balancer if your going to buy a meter

 

is there a disadvantage to the lumy method? sounds like that could be more fool proof.

 

yes like dave stated a few replies back there are a number of factors that make it less reliable