OK - - my rancher friend went back to basics. Really great to have a person with no pre-conceived notions looking at the issues. Bill said, at the start, "Don't tell me what you've done or tried."

I didn't and the engine is running better than it has in more than 5 years.
First he thought that the distributor was installed 180 degrees off, but not so

When Bill brought #1 up to TDC, he discovered that although the engine would idle, run, and accelerate the TDC mark on the harmonic balancer and TDC in #1 cylinder do not match. The timing mark is about 1/8 of a revolution ahead of #1 TDC.

Right now the distributor is recalibrated to match #1 cylinder. Engine idles slower, runs leaner and cleaner with no backfiring. Seems to lack a bit on high-end out on the highway, but I'm driving it a bit where it's at.

Questions: How could this happen?
Timing chain jump?
Could the the balancer be wrong for the short block that was installed? I think I read about different keying between earlier and later engines.

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David Wilkinson
wilki-worker
POB 173
Twisp, WA 98856

It's pretty common for the outer part of the balancer to rotate a bit over the years (the rubber slips a little), so don't trust it to much.

You can check for balancer slip by making a new mark on the balancer at TDC, then drive like you would normally, occasionally checking to see if the new mark on the balancer has moved. Otherwise, its possible the incorrect balancer was installed, in which case, make a new mark to match TDC and call it good.

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

The PO had a 76 engine rebuilt and installed in my 66 Dart Vert. apparently they used the 66 balancer on the 76 engine and I have to time it by the #6 sparkplug at about 30*advanced

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Thanks for the replies.

Engine continues to run well.
I am probably going to play with the distributor calibration a bit before I make a new timing mark. Like to get back the high-speed oomph it seesm to lack.

Continuing on - - -

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David Wilkinson
wilki-worker
POB 173
Twisp, WA 98856

got aquestion regarding this when you put your engine to tdc by turning the balancer as the screwdriver goes up then stops then a bit more of the balancer turning causes it to go down i noticed as well that my rotor is off on the 1# it passes it by 1/4 -1/2 inch but on the ??? what can i do too

We pulled the distributor, turned it so the rotor was right on #1 contact in the dist. cap, and re-installed the dist. with both slide adjusters centered. That gave us enough slide adjustment to fine-tune a bit.

I believe you need to make sure you are TDC on the compression stroke rather than the exhaust stroke. We used a compression gauge to be sure.

I am a real seat-of-the-pants mechanic -- that's why I have a slant-six in one vehicle and a 1969 318 in the other. You will get much more help by starting a new topic, I think.

_________________
David Wilkinson
wilki-worker
POB 173
Twisp, WA 98856