Crank timing marks question

[fireguy12117]

what should i see on a healthy 4.0 when using a timing light on the crank pulley?

i am in the process of my own chasing down of pinging problems and wasnt sure what was a healthy engines timing compared to what i saw today on mine.

 

[gotmudd]

what does your book say your timing should be set at? and it would be helpfull if you posted up what your current timing is set at. can't help if we don't know what you've currrently got your timing set at. most common causes of pinging, especially under load, is either your timing is set too high or if you have changed fuel grades.

 

[fireguy12117]

the back story is this is a rebuilt motor and basically i want to confirm that the engine shop didnt screw me and set the cam to crank timing incorrectly. this was my first motor re-install and i just didnt think to double check that before closing it up and dropping it in.

right now everything indicates that the motor should be running tip top, but it is far from it...

since there is no timing adjustment to these motors i figured that it should be pretty consistant as far as where the marks should be so i am just wondering would the marks look like the pin is between 0-10, before 0, or after 10 if everything was good.

and anyhow, just to put it out there, it doesnt ping under load persay, it actually sounded more like marbles rattling in a can when i floored it and hit around 3000 rpm.

 

[AllanD]

You won't see anything identifiable unless you pull the spout connector
which on a 4.0 is on the pigtail near the EDIS6 module.
On a 1993-94 the EDIS6/spout is on the radiator support on the drivers side.
NOTE, not to be confused with the nearly identical connector located next to the starter relay, which is refered to as the "PCM Shorting Bar" in some manuals and as the "Octane Adjust Shorting Bar" in others.

Cam to crank timing? nearly impossible to screw up, the cam and sprocket are keyed.

Crank to spark timing? controlled purely by the crank pickup assembly which is "pinned"

Cam synchronizer? (if equipped, which isn't certain on a 1994 ranger) irrelevant to ignition timing.

Much more likely? if you have serious pinging issues? that they assembled the engine with the WRONG (1995-up) Cylinder heads which have smaller chambers and increase compression.

AD

 

[fireguy12117]

from what i remember when i chirped the throttle, the timing marks shift (i forget which direction, but anyhow) which tells me that the spark advance from all the controls must be working?

your telling me that it is very unlikely that something could have shifted a link on the chain during assembly since things are keyed? i have no frame of reference for the setup of crank to cam timing, so im just trying to understand and eliminate.

are the casting markings easy to see with the motor in, to see what heads ive got?

the pinging only seemed to occur during high throttle input, around 3k rpm. it does seem to have gotten better with a change in octane levels; the pinging or marbling or whatever wasnt there last time i stomped it going into work. i am curious if there is relation between burning oil in the chamber causing reduced combustion. ive seen another post about this where the question was asked about oil consumption. IF i topped off the oil at installation, it is definatly low now. could there be poor assembly of the pistions and ive got exessive oil going into the combustion chamber? lastly, the exhaust stinks. smells rich...can you 'hear' a missfire if thats occuring? thats what braught me back around to timing. if i am a tooth off and running rich or something and the spark advancment was messed up or something at WOT.

 

[AllanD]

I'm saying that for the timig chain to be a tooth off would do a whole bunch more than ping a little.

AD

 

[fireguy12117]

haha, alright. case closed on the timing setup issue.

ive read 10 degree BTD for the base timing. what happens if its more? i put the timing light back on it and when i pulled the SPOUT the motor snapped right to the 10 degree mark. when its plugged in, its past that...just to make a guess, anywhere from 15-20 degrees off from 0.