ATTENTION: All Postings that advertise items for sale will be deleted from the Discussion Forum. You may post sale items for free in the Classifieds section. Sign up now.
I have a 69 dodge 440HP engine that came out of a motor home. when I pulled the engine out it was running OK. I sent the heads out the be resurfaced and put on a new Edelbrock performer intake and Holley. I also added a MSD ready to run distriburator with vacuum. Problem is, when i try to set the timing, the timing mark seems to jump around a lot. I can't seem to get the timing right because when I set it (currently set to 30 degrees before TDC) and put the light on the mark, the mark jumps around and travels back and forth about 10 degrees in each direction. I've checked the distriburator to see if it could be moving and it's as tight as it will go so I'm not sure what is going on. I've been told that it could be a loose timing chain, a vacuum leak, or that the distriburator is bad. At this point, I'm not sure what to do as the distriburator is brand new and I'm out of ideas. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Steps in the diagnoses: Pull The cap off, Is the rotor tight or will it twist side to side where it mounts to the shaft. When you Twist the rotor does the mechanical advance weights allow it to move and then spring back imediatly? If the rotor moves back and forth with out resistance and doesnt spring back it has broken or missing advance weight springs. Next rotate the the crank with a wrench or socket and watch the rotor doese it move with very little play or does it allow the crank to move 10 degrees before it moves. There will be some slop. But does the amount corispaond to your error? If this is the fault it could be: Timing chain or Distributor drive gears (Camshaft and oil pump/distributor drive) To fix change the timing set and/or cam set. I usualy use a fresh chain set with every cam cause they are cheap and I have to do the work any way. It is very likly that the distributor/oil pump drive gear wern't changed the last time this was overhauled. I check it when I have an engine torn down. But that bit me on my race car recently. Getting metal on the oil samples and it was the old ger eating itself. Cost me a tear down and cam set. Good Luck
email Michael Burns
reply to message
post new message
search forums
