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'83 D-150 timing issue
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Author:  D-HOMIETRUCK [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:31 am ]
Post subject:  '83 D-150 timing issue
Hello all. I am somewhat new to this site and I want to apologize right off the bat if this topic has been previously posted, but after an exhaustive search on this site I haven't found a concrete solution to my problem.

I "inherited" this 1983 D-150 225 slant six. It was converted off of lean burn to electronic ignition (I did the conversion some years back). The current problem is the motor will not stay in time; I've replaced the timing chain (which had a LOT of play in it) with a Cloyes 3 pc. chain/gear set, setting the motor at TDC. At first, motor would not start. Ended up hooking up a comp. tester to #1 and found that at the compression stroke, the dist. rotor was pointing at #6. Pulled dist out, repositioned rotor to #1, re-installed and engine fired right up, lasted for about 30sec-1min, then eventually died. Could not get it to start again, so I put comp. tester back on #1 and found that the rotor was back on #6 again. Every time I set the motor in time, it will run for a short period, then keep jumping off time. I suspect cam gear is not making good contact with distributor.....

A little history: I drove this truck about 7 months prior and was running like a champ...however, a few months before I drove it the truck had a major transmission failure (major as in from 50 mph the trans. disassembled itself, broke the drive shaft, and basically locked the motor up when it happened.) The prev. owner replaced the transmission (it's a manual trans.) and drive shaft, and the truck seemed to run okay at that point. I suspect this is why the timing chain had all that stretch in it, but could there be an underlying issue from that incident? I guess I am confused because the truck ran fine after the trans failure. Has anyone seen this type scenario before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Author:  Reed [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:07 am ]
Post subject: 
Have you checked the plastic distributor drive gear? These are known to fail. On two separate occasions in two separate vehicles, I had the distributor gear fail in such a way that the distributor would slowly go out of time. On one vehicle the motor would run fine, then lose power, then stall, then I would crank it for a while and the motor would catch, run badly, then run fine, then stall, etc... Both cases turned out to be teeth partially sheared off the distributor gear and/or the gear cracked and flexing on the shaft.

Cheap and easy fix if this is your problem.
Author:  D-HOMIETRUCK [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:53 am ]
Post subject: 
Yes, I did check this, the gear seems to be in good shape on the distributor. That has also happened to me one other time so that was the first thing I checked ......
Author:  wjajr [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:11 pm ]
Post subject: 
Check the gear on the cam shaft the drives the distributor. Also inspect the pin that positions the nylon gear on the distributor. Something in that area is out of whack.
Author:  Reed [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Are you sure you got the right timing set? There are very few ways the distributor will gradually work its way out of time from the crankshaft.
Author:  D-HOMIETRUCK [ Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:37 pm ]
Post subject: 
I am fairly confident that I got the right timing set; I will check the box when I get home and see what the p/n is. everything seemed to look right when I bolted it back together.
Author:  D-HOMIETRUCK [ Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:50 am ]
Post subject: 
P/N for the cloyes timing kit was c3022k, which I believe is the right kit. I think I am just going to pull the motor out and go through it, even though that wasn't the route I wanted to take. :roll:

Thanks for the tips; I will post a reply with my findings once I get the motor out......
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