Timing

[stuck]

Gent's,

My 4.6 has always run like a bag of splendid isn't running very smoothly, it's as though it's not running on all 8 or the timing is out.

I know my trigger wheel was fitted incorrectly (I didn't squirt it) & has a huge offset in the ECU to compensate.

How do I check the timing on a serp engine?

I have a strobe etc but there aren't any timing marks that I can see.

Thanks in advance,

Mick.

[stuck]

Don't you just love the swear filter!

[FridgeFreezer]

Depending how far out your trigger wheel is, there is a maximum advance & retard that EDIS can manage, if your trim value is pushing it beyond this then you'll hit the limits. This *may* be visible with a timing light or you should be able to see in software what the advance number is and if it's beyond what EDIS can cope with.

I'd go for finding TDC by one of the various methods and then tippex or timing tape on the crank pulley.

[stuck]

Thanks Fridge,

Forgive my ignorance (it's about 10 years since I've had to set timing) but assuming I get #1 to TDC where do I mark the crank pulley?

Can I just mark the pulley @ 12 o'clock and do it by rack of the eye or do I need a pointer as fitted to 3.5's?

Cheers,

Mick.

[FridgeFreezer]

I'm as rusty as you really, but I think I'm right in saying that if you get it to TDC you can make a mark on the pulley anywhere, and when the mark is at that point the engine is at TDC. So, you could mark the pulley and mark the timing cover so the marks line up at TDC, or if you had a pointer attached or there was a handy bolt or something as a reference you'd mark lined up with that.

[Dave W]

It's better to fit a pointer of some kind to do it accurately. Mine doesn't have a pointer either and I struggled for ages trying to get an accurate reference point that didn't change depending on where you viewed it from. Having a pointer next to the pulley made life a whole lot easier.

[stuck]

Thanks Chaps,

Much appreciated.

[ThreeSheds]

On the pointer thing - a mangled paperclip araldited to in position is good - somwhere you can see it and get the strobe to light it. Although on my serpV8 (off a '96 Disco) the timing marks are there but were very difficult to see until cleaned and tippexed - when at TDC they are at about 2pm as you look from the front. The pointer looks a bit like a casting web on the timing cover so it may be worth having another look....

On the strobe - you may well find that the pickup is sensitive to the polarity of the HT lead, and since EDIS uses a wasted spark and cylinders one and six fire together, these have the same timing but different polarities. The upshot of this is that if your strobe doesn't work on the HT lead to cylinder one, try it on cylinder six.

HTH

Roger

[Bowie69]

On the strobe - you may well find that the pickup is sensitive to the polarity of the HT lead, and since EDIS uses a wasted spark and cylinders one and six fire together, these have the same timing but different polarities. The upshot of this is that if your strobe doesn't work on the HT lead to cylinder one, try it on cylinder six.

I find just turning the pickup over, i.e. the arrow pointing the other way, to the coil, works in this instance.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

OK

I know this engine well as I squirted it and made the harness, I didn't fit the trigger wheel tho

That engine has NO TDC Marks, its an ex GEMS Unit, as such there is no TDC Indicator. The way to sort this is to use a pencil down the spark plug hole

to get the engine to TDC then paint a mark on both the trigger whel where yoiu can see it, and correspondingly on the timing case, the tippex we put there will have long gone.

This will give you a TDC Marker, but not the quadrnats for advance and retard, but you should be able to wok it out. As Steve and Chris welded the trigger wheel to the crank pulley I timed it via a combo of the above and then changing trim inside the software, puzzled you have a timing prob, as thuis was all set spot on, can't see that the trigger wheel is ever going to move, so only thing must be the VR sensor bracket, which can also be trimmed too ?

HTH

Nige

[stuck]

That's a very good point Nige,

The VR sensor bracket was badly bent when I got the engine & I replaced it with one of your shiny ones.

It's never been 100% since so I guess I have the bracket set incorrectly, what do I need to do to set it up?

Run engine until warm, check timing with strobe & then try to adjust by moving the bracket until the timing marks align?

Thanks.

[Off Road Toad]

That engine was set up perfectly. We did

Plenty of miles on that unmolested setup including driving all the way to Romania and then racing for a week non stop. The trigger wheel is bolted on not welded. Got a new head for that knackered td5 now by the way ;-)