Thread: i got a problem with timing my engine

Tweet

Is that a new or used crate engine, and do u have a good carb. and gasket and or intake gasket leak? Has the truck been sitting long enough to hve condensation in the fuel tank?

how do i adjust it one tooth iam not sure what you are saying its a new motor so the cam should be alright

No offense intended here, but if you're not sure what it means to have the distributor off by a tooth, you may be in far enough over your head that some posts on a website might not explain it well enough for you. That's not bad on you. It just takes time and experience to do jobs like this.

Lets try going back to the basics.

First, buy a timing light. If you're going to tune a motor yourself, it's a must for the toolbox. Granted, you can time an engine with a vacuum gauge, but you have to buy one of those too. Also, you can tune a car by ear, but that takes experience. Finally, you can tune a car, but you can't Tuna Fish. (Sorry, I just HAD to do that.) Anyhow, here you go. Take this list and follow it step by step.

1. Pull the distributor.
2. Take out the #1 sparkplug.
3. Crank the engine clockwise with your finger over the sparkplug hole until you feel pressure pushing your finger away.
4. Continue turning the motor until the timing mark on the balancer aligns with the pointer. The motor is now at #1 TDC.
5. Put the distributor back in the motor without the cap. Make sure that the vacuum advance canister port is pointing to about 7 o'clock as you look down on the top of distributor from the front of the engine.
6. Check where the rotor is pointing, and put a little piece of tape or a magic marker stripe on the distributor housing.
7. Put the cap on the distributor.
8. The terminal directly above the mark will be number one.
9. Wire the cap 18436572 clockwise from that point.
10. Start the engine. If it doesn't want to start or kicks back, try slightly moving the distributor clockwise or counterclockwise.
11. Once you get it running, set the timing at about 10 BTDC.

If you don't understand this process, or it still won't run, get a buddy who is familiar with timing. Once you get the hang of it, it isn't hard.

In the 89 GMC is it still EFI or did you convert to a carb ? EFI, Do as Henry said to step 11 on the firewall ther is a single wire Brown W/blk tracer disconect this wire start the truck then set your timing to 0* once the timing is set shut it off and reconect the wire and test drive . Go thruogh and double check all or the conectors and all the grounds in the system. If you are still having problem start to trouble shoot each system (power, ground ,fuses and conectors) Hope this helps Dave

yeah its a carb motor but i converted it to a throttle body. but like i said before the problem is the damper was put on with out it being at the number 1

All right Henry, a great description, and a cool Joe Walsh quote all in one post. Now that takes talent. LOL.

Superchevy, by damper I'm guessin' you're talkin' about the Balancer. It only goes on one way, with the keyway, it doesn't matter how you get it on unless you have an externally balanced one from a 400. They basically make three different balancers with the timing mark in different places for different timing tabs. So, unless you have the wrong tab on the block, or the balancer has slipped, you should still be able to use a gun on it. That being said, pretend you have no marks at all. What Hnery has said still works, you just have to use a little imagination.

1. Find TDC on #1 plug during compression. Put your finger over #1 and turn until you fell compression (air blowing out of the hole)

2. If you do not have a timing tab that lines up, using a 5/8 wrench you will turn the motor with the bolt on the end of the crankshaft pulley while shining a light into #1 cylinder. You should be able to see the piston as it pulls to the tiop of the cylinder. If not you can use a small screwdriver or something similar to feel the piston rise and fall. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DO THIS. If someone turns the motor over with the key while you have something in the hole you're going to hurt your motor. But you need to have number one up during compression, Mas importante (New Mex for very important).

3. Once you have accomplished step #2 properly, go to Henry's post and start at #5 to get your dizzy where it should be.

If you can't use a timing gun on the motor, timing by ear sucks, I do it because I'm to cheap or lazy to get another balancer and I have done it before, so I have a little experience. Once you get the hang of timing it makes good sense, but getting it is the hard part. When you have the dizzy out, lok at the bottom. There is a gear there that mates to your cam gear. This is what we are talking about when we say you may be a tooth off on your distributor. If you get the dizzy in and its a tooth too far in either direction the motor will run like crap. Just pull it up enough to disengage the cam gear and twist the shaft clockwise or counter-clockwise (depending on which way it needs to go) until it drops onto the next groove on the gear.

If this is your first time playing with timing I would suggest getting someone with some experience to help. Once you figure it out it's not bad, but until then, timing sucks. If you're not sure it will fight you 'til the last man.

I've been messin with this stuff for 15 years (I'm still a kid), and when I put my 383 in a month ago, I was 180* off... it happens to the best of us. Especially when Johnny Walker helps you put the motor together.

You dont have a cam problem.....cover the simple stuff first. Even if the timing is off a little, it should run pretty good...If its way too far advanced, it wont start without kicking back against the starter. If it's too far retarded, it wont want to catch and run. If it runs better at higher RPM's but wont idle, you have other problems. Start with new plugs (even if they look good, they can be misfiring) Make sure your plug wires are good, replace them if you're not sure. Make sure they are in the right places in the cap! (Easy to mess up) Make sure the cap is good too. If you cover the ignition problems, it very well might be a carb problem. How is the carb? Do you know for sure that it's good?? Get all this stuff taken care of first, then work on the timing issue. Timing isnt that critical that it will cause the problems that you're having. Get a timing light!! Very important. Even the best mechanics will tell you not to time it by ear. Being a tooth or two off on the distributor will not cause it to run worse, it will only limit how far you can turn the distributor to adjust it. . Let us know how you make out after checking all these things out.

quick question dose all the stuff from my 350 would it bolt up to a 383 like the distrib and everything

A 383 Chevy Im assuming you mean?? Yes, that's just a 350 block, stroked...same engine.

HAHA finally got her done it turns out it was a damn sparkplug missfiring i apreciate the help guys ill talk to u if i have anyother problems

Good to hear that, it almost always is the little things that are causing problems, and we're always looking for the bigger problems. Good luck and have fun with it.