well i got this car recently and i'm not positive the timing was set right because i believe it was set while it had a vacuum leak & it was set by ear. That being said, i drove the car around one day brought it to a mechanic and he heard the tick after it was hot for awhile and told me he thinks my timing is too advanced (didnt hear it until that point) and when i got home later i had noticed the 8th cylinders spark plug wire wasnt even fully pressed onto the plug! i popped it on and i believe it defiantly sounded more powerful.


anyway, the problem is it is still ticking, Also it runs kinda crappy when you begin to press on the gas it seems to die out a little but that could be my air screws/idle being adjusted with shitty timing. and sometimes when you're shutting it down it will start shutting down then run on (believe its called diesieling)

im pretty sure its the timing but the only thing i see that could help me set timing is this small horse shoe looking thing stamped towards the right side of the block but nothing on the fly wheel.

 

brown timing lead unplugged???? timing is set to 8 Deg???? no codes???
your saying the timing tag is missing???
and the line mark is on the harmonic Balancer... not the fly wheel

 

hmm well this motor is carbed now, the kid who had it before me went through 4 engines, if the brown timing lead/plug is what i think it is it is plugged in.

the service engine light is just on always as far as ive noticed, its got aftermarket streep/strip distributor, hooker headers, edelbrock intake and carb.. is the harmonic balancer the small metal tag looking thing with teeth? sorry guys first time messing with this stuff but willing to listen

 

The harmonic balancer is the smooth metal ring behind the crank pully, there should be a mark on it along with a timing tab located on the timing cover at about 3 o clock or 12 depending on what year and if its even on there, if it is a carbed non cc setup with a non cc vac advance distributor installed, which sounds like what you described, you should be able to set the timing in the normal way, with vaccum advance disabled and a timing light. It may be a good idea to determine if the mark on the balancer lines up with the #1 piston at TDC before trying to set base timing.

 

i dont think my motor has that smooth metal ring, seems to be just the pulley that the belts riding on, i dont seem to see the timing tab either just the horse shoe shaped thing stamped on the block right around where i think id see a timing tab.

i also checked my 8cyl spark plug today and it wasnt too bad just pretty black, i replaced it and still hear the tick even after i shut it down, you can also hear a faint knocking when the engine is running low rpms.. this could be timing related right? bad wire maybe? any way to test this?

 

The "smooth metal ring" is what the crank pulley is bolted to ... about 6 3/4 inches in diameter, about 2 inches thick. It has a line scribed in it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SB-Ch...item4ceec8638c

The "timing tab" is a small plate that is attached to the timing chain cover, that has "teeth" notches in it. http://kmjent.com/cart/product.php?productid=1902

Buy a timing light if you think it's off, and check it ($15 and 15 minutes).

1) unplug the tan or brown wire - it's the EST wire - located close to the pass side strut tower, the brown wire comes out of the wiring loom, has a connector about 2 inches long, then the brown wire goes right back into the loom.
2) start car
3) check/adjust timing
4) turn car off
5) disconnect battery for 5 minutes to reset computer
6) reconnect battery ... done, start car and ride

 

loosten dist with car running just a half turn or so,and move it clockwise a couple milli meters or so,with advance in untill it seems to run better,take it for a run if you here tating like a tamborine,move dist a lil more untill it stops completely,then move it about a half mm counter clock wise.after all this set your idle at aroun 600 and you should be alot better off then you were
(different settups cause for different timing,only way to get the timing right is to get it to where you feel the engine is running its best)

 

thank you, i tuned it to the best of my ability (i have a hypertechdistro if it makes a dif to anyone) by ear since my 15 dollar timing light from harbor freight seems to suck pretty bad in daylight. i found my timing mark and timing tab though and adjusted the distibutor best i could by ear, the car didnt stall when i give it steady throttle or 1/4 throttle... but that was when i noticed it was still running pretty lean... (i say lean because i can hear a faint knock from around the 8cyl and i know lean conditions can cause a knock aswell as timing, still cant figure out the pinging/arcing sound after i shut down the car though coming from the spark area?)

now the only issue is it sounds like its running lean? how can i fix that? i know i have an edelbrock carb and the only thing connected is the pcv thing the brake booster and the fuel to the carb, there are two more vacuum ports on the front of the carb but im not sure what im suppost to connect them to or if i even need to or should,


my fuel filter wasnt filling up with gas, only a tiny bit on the bottom of the filter and i pulled the line off the filter to see if my fuel pumps pumping fuel and it started pumping nearly 1/4 a gallon in a second so i dont think its that? im stumped and when i connected the line directly to the carb it sounded alot fuller and more groany than sputtery, but the idle started to get funky again, like i would give it gas but on the way down it would sound like it wanted to stall or if i gave it gas, let off and pressed again quickly it would sound flooded almost and thats when i came inside.. maybe i have to do timing again since its getting more fuel now? thanks!

 

take a pic of your engine bay at right side of carb (there should be a vacum line connected from the dist to the carb one of the vacum ports on left or right of pcv should be hooked to dist if its vacum advance.

 

How can you tell if its vacuum advance? Pics in the am!

 

little vacum thingy to left of connected to dist base