Today I got the timing light out. Now I should start by saying that the engine in my Maverick is the 200-6. Before today I had never put a timing light to the engine. With not too much of a surprise, the timing mark on the crank pulley pointed straight up, pointing at the water pump. Odd. So I did what any wrench hand would do. I moved the distributor. As I pulled out of the driveway I knew instantly I had made the wrong choice. With the timing mark set at 12 degrees,( about two inches south of were it was), the engine heaved, surged, and basically ran like crap. After about five miles I pulled over and with the engine running I loosened the distributor bolt and turned the thing until the engine was happy. I never even looked at were the timing mark ended up. But know it runs soo much better. Anyone have an idea why the timing mark is so off ?
Should i be worried about any posssible internal damage, or any other adverse effects from this? It runs pretty good just like it is.
If the timing is off, but runs good, it can still burn valves and melt pistons. You can turn screws to make an engine run with the timing off. You need to know what the timing is set at...then turn screws.
Not sure what you mean by "turning the screws". I"m guessing you mean the points? I did pull the #1 spark plug, then turned the engine over until the piston was at TDC. The timing mark sat at 2 degrees BTDC. Then I pulled the distributor cap off, and the points were closed. So I kept rolling the engine over,(by hand) and they brake open at 14 degrees. I think I set the gap at .024, not sure tho, will have to double check that. The engine does seem to run hot.? I don't have any gauges, so I kinda just feeling in the dark here. I almost forgot, the plug was a light tan, and the electrodes looked good, no blisters or craters. Also, the piston looked good,.. I think. Just had a dark, dry, carbon look to it. I didn't know that the pulley could come off the harmonic balancer. Doesn't the pulley bolt to the balancer, and the balancer bolt to the crankshaft snout? Do you think someone could have installed the timing belt with the crank and cam misaligned ? When I turned the engine over, and the piston was at TDC, there was about seven degrees of slop in the movement too. Keep it going, and thanks for the help.
I said "Turn screws." As in adjusting the carburetor, adjusting points, loosening bolts to move the distributor or anything else involved in tuning an engine. It's better to use a dwell meter to set the points...it's more accurate. The balancer has rubber between the inner hub and outer ring. This rubber will deteriorate over time and slip and make a timing light useless. You cannot see this slippage with the naked eye. Do not worry about a timing belt because you don't have one...you have a timing chain. If your engine did jumped timing then it won’t run or if it did run it wouldn't run too smooth
Yeah, your right. I just got back in from the garage. I pulled all the plugs, just to check 'em. They all look the same. So thats good. Then I got my feeler gauges out, didnt have a .027, so I used a .026 on the points gap, and just made it loose. : ) I've never used the dwell method to check out the points, read about it once, but for a street car, i guess the old feeler gauges will do. Did I say belt? Huh, well sorry I ment timing chain. Your right about the rubber piece, it doesnt look good at all. In the end, I was right back were I started. But now, I know I need a new dampner pulley, witch I didn't know went bad. Thank you for the education, & for your time. So...were do I find a new dampner pulley...?
I found that harmonic balancer at autokrafters. None of the local shops had one. I looked up one at summit racing, whoo! I could buy two from autokrafters for the one at summit.
got the new pulley on the car and got the timing light back out. that's not the problem. its still running like its about to die at 12 degrees. it only runs smoothly when its way too far advanced.? I thought about pulling the timing cover and checking the the timing marks on the crank and cam sprockets. But I just got everything buttoned up from the pulley swap. Is there a way of checking lift at the rockers? maybe there's a bad lifter? anyone have any other thoughts?
Two things come to mind. #1- take out your #1 plug and turn the engine until you can see the piston all the way at the top. You might need someone to help turn the engine or hold a light for you while you watch. With the piston all the way up, your mark on the pulley should be next to the " 0 " on the scale. If not, wrong pulley! You could still time it by just painting a mark on the pulley at the " 0 " on the scale. #2- this one isn't as easy. Your timing chain may have jumped! To find this out ( without dis assembly ) you will need to get a service manual that states " intake opens at X degrees before TDC. Try #1 first. I'll dig through some old manuals I've got, and see if I can find the intake specs for you. I found the spec. " Intake valve opens at 9° BTC ". I'll put up the page for you as it has all your tune up info! You'll just have to pull the rocker cover if #1 doesn't get you going!
i have to agree that you might have a problem with your timming chain.is there alot of slop?take the cap off the dist.turn the crank pully left and right.see how much you can turn it before the rotor moves.
The pulley moves about seven degrees before it moves the distributor. I did pull the #1 plug to find TDC. That is when I found out it has alot slop. That's when I seen that while turning the crank pulley it has about three degrees of free play before anything else moves, turning it either way. I've removed the #1 plug, checked the points gap, checked all plugs for proper color, and replaced the dampener pulley. Then I put the timing light to it and the timing marks are all the way up near the water pump. this is were it runs the best. I'm trying to get as many opinion's as to why this is. I do thank you all, no one around me has very much knowledge of engines, so this site is of great help to me. Thanks.
