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'93 4.2L timing

3270 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  thorh, 
thorh
Just got everything back together after doing heads, HGs, timing set, cam and lifters.

Put the timing light on it. With the vacuum line disconnected, the timing mark is lined up with the "e" on the word "before" on the pulley. The vacuum pot on the distributor is all the way against the thermostat housing. I'm shooting for 10 BTDC.

I followed the procedures for lining everything up when installing the distributor.

Where did I go wrong? Is something worn in the dizzy?

Thanks for the help!

Thor
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roverandom
Sometimes the timing marks on the crank are quite a long way out of spec. I've heard tell of as much as 20* in some instances!

Did you physically verifiy the #1 piston is at TDC on compression?
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thorh
That's crazy! It was at TDC, with both valves closed. Set everything just as pictured in the manual. Dizzy slid right in! It fired up immediately. It's idling very well. I just can't get the mark anywhere near the 10* mark, let alone the 6* mark!

Is it possible it's in there 1 tooth off? Although I think if I spin it 1 tooth, the rotor will not be anywhere near pointing to the #1 plug wire.
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p76rangie
It would appear that you have lined up the distributor incorrectly when fitting it. You can remove it, move the oil pump pickup anti-clockwise as much as you want to rotate the distributor and then re-insert the distributor in the right location. Otherwise you can simply move all the sparkplug leads around 1 position and then rotate the distributor for the new locations.
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thorh
Had some time to work on the classic today.

I moved all the plug wires on the cap clockwise 1 position. Then rotated the distributor counter clockwise until the plug for the amplifier hit the p/s pump bracket. (It has the amp relocation kit)

She wouldn't even start.
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thorh
After some more searching, I found some pretty good posts back from 2008. Sounds like I just need to pull the dizzy and rotate a tooth. Ill give it a try!
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thorh
Just a follow up. Finally had some time to work on the Classic!

Set the timing up as per the manual (#1 TDC compression stroke).

Removed dizzy, rotated oil pump shaft slightly CCW. Rotated distributor shaft CCW.

Everything dropped right back in. Have the normal amount of adjustment with the dizzy. Set to 10* BTDC. Runs great!

It was just 1 tooth off!

Thanks for the help!

Thor
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