Thread: i got a problem with timing my engine

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I put the distributor in and i can get it to run but reall crappyand the prob is i dont have a timing gauge on my motor its a crate 350 the trucks an 89 gmc sierra was wondering if theres any tricks to help me out

Did you happen to put in it 180 degrees backwards. It happens to alot of folks?

ive tried doin everything i can get it real close sometimes but it just dosent get to where it is good

Originally posted by chevy 37
Did you happen to put in it 180 degrees backwards. It happens to alot of folks?

i kid you not, what i do now is put the distributor in faceing #1 plug and then i pull it right back out and turn it 180 and it works every time. sooner or later murrphy's law is going to get wise to what i'm doing

I agree 53 chevy, but u know he has got to be tired of this timing thing by now.

yeah the things annoying the crap out of me should i get the number 1 piston all the way out then point the distrib at it and how am i suposte to turn the motor over by hand any hint will help iam sure u know how annoying this gets

you can turn the motor by hand or you could bump it with the starter, holding the fan belt tight and turning the fan will be the fastest way by yourself ( unless you have an electric fan, then it's not feasable ). I'v turned many motors over by hand that way.

turn your motor over until the timing pointer points to TDC or 0 on your harmonic balancer. try puting your dist in turning it bit by bit until in goes in. take note at what direction it is pointing and pull it back out and then take a long screwdriver and turn your oil pump in your dist hole one way or the other about the same distance that you need to move your rotor to get it to point to #1 piston. it will take a few tries moving the pump bit by bit until you get the dist right. if you want to make sure its in right and not 180 off take #1 plug out and turn the motor over by hand clockise and you can feel the compression or air comming out of #1 then you are on the right revolution to put it on TDC on the balancer and leave it. the firing order is 18436572 with 1 on the left front 2 on right front 3 second back on the left on 4 second on right and so one. i hope this helps

you can turn the motor over by hand by putting a socket on the center bolt holding the harmonic balancer on.

grab ahold of the damper and turn the engine until you get to TDC after the intake valve closes... then take the cap off the distributor and make sure the rotor is pointed toward the #1 wire. if it faces the firewall, you are 180 off.

alright ill have to give these tips a try tomarow thanks for the help it is greatly apreciated ill let u know how it goes

alright i got the engine running again but it still runs like garbage just above idel it runs smooth but when u gas it it starts breaking up and ideling it dosent run either its making me crazy

After you get all this done and get your dist close, you'll still need to time the motor by ear. Do you have good advance and retard? That is can you move the dist back and forth enough to make the motor stumble? Sounds like you are gettin' closer, now you just need to fine tune it. It's tough without a light but you can do it.

First, after stabbing the dist, make sure you have good motion on it. Advance it until it starts to stumble, then retard it til it starts to stumble. A good starting point to try and run it is going to be right in between those 2 points. In the end you will probably be more advanced than retarded, but we'll get there. In this first part, I want you to make sure that there is a point in between advance and retard where it runs fairly smooth. If not, you're probably a tooth off on the dist. Decide which side of the motion it runs best at and move it on tooth on the gear that direction.

Second, go through first again. Do this until you have a good sweep of motion on the dist, that is you can advance it until it tries to die, AND, you can retard it until it tries to die.

Once you have reached this point, it's just a matter of dialing it in. The harmonic balancer on my 350 has slipped so I don't have a timing mark either. What I do is find the stumble points, advance and retard, and split the difference, then split the difference again on the advance side. When you have too much advance the engine will turn hard, like the starters draggin'. Back off your timing advance until that quits. That is a pretty good startin' place. You may have to adjust a bit for different performance, but it's not tough. Do a little adjustment, then go drive it. If it starts breakin' up at higher rpm's you've probably still got too much advance, but keep tweekin' it. You'll get it.

alright well i got the motor to wear it idels but really rough the problem iam running into is when i put it in gear and try to take off it starts backfiring and sometimes will cut out, the thing iam thinking is that maybe one of the plugs is bad cause when i put a steady gas on it its smooth but once its labored it breaks up would that cause it to run like that ya think hit me back

Look for a post that will be on this forum in a few minutes.

Title: "Got Time?"

It may help.

sounds like you're a tooth off, or the cam has gone flat... been there, junked that!