Distributor Fully Loose? Misfiring intermittently because of this? (VIDEO)

[eightynine4x4]

Just updating this thread..
Took it for a spin at higher speeds a couple days ago and the sound of someone playing the spoons inside the engine is now effectively gone. It had always occurred when approaching the 2500 rpm's zone, especially going up hill, which was always concerning so i'd back off the throttle and cruise gently. On this test drive, once the truck was warmed up the engine was very smooth and i rev'd it pretty hard and well past 3000 rpm's and was very surprised at the lack of clammer. Sounds like an engine that's suppose to be running at high rpm's.
I should have the timing light in hand today and will get at that asap. I'm having trouble locating the notch and markings for TDC. I don't see any logical spot for it on my truck. Maybe I'll go over to the car wash and shoot some high pressure soap directly down in that area just to get a cleaner start on the search process.

Also dealing with some cooling issues soon, hoping those will help a few other things. After the truck really warmed up from me driving for 30 minutes at 55 mph, and i'm not sure if it's properly cooling, some diesel style ticking finally came back. Didn't seem to want to go away when letting it idle after parking it either. Usually idling this truck lets it calm down again and noises go away and sounds great. But this time it didn't, even after 10 minutes. So it may be temp. It also may be imperfect distributor alignment. So those are the two tasks at hand.

 

[gaz]

89,

I would not even drive it I knew or suspected the timing were off, let alone see how it handles "hi speed ops".

I very much DO NOT recommend spraying high pressure water in the engine bay. Instead get some automotive degreaser or even spray oven cleaner and douse the area in question. Another good, cheap degreasing agent is dish soap, even at 20:1.

Any of the auto parts stores will either borrow you a timing light, check it for you in the parking lot or charge you on your credit card for 72 hr use, with a full refund upon return. So don't wait or even buy one