how do you check the timeing??????

[Original_Ranger84]

that doesnt look like my engine i mean it kinda does but not realy it looks like it is smallere and it has a different thermostat housing. is there a place i can type in the id numbers off my engine and find out what kind of engine it is for sure cuz i think it maybe a newer engine?

The only v6 available for the 83 -85 rangers was the carburated 2.8L, in 86 they switched to the fuel injected 2.9L which is un mistakeable because it has a big intake that says 2.9L Fuel Injected.

Heres a photo of my engine (after a dura spark conversion and A/C removed.)

The thermostat housing may have been changed between 84 and 85 as the 85 2.8 recieved extra wiring and vacuum stuff. The engine on the tech page may also have been from a 70's stang 2 or capric cause they had the same engines.

 

[twoll86]

well it ran today but it took the battery charger\starter to get it started and it took forever but i drove it around for a bit and it was fine after i let it sit for an hour it hesitated for a minute and then started up. but i still need to check the timeing i guess what is a timing light and where do i get one and how much are they? if the fireing order is wrong then it wouldnt start would it? and i think it might have to do with the weather some how, but probly not huh?

check your fuel pressure it kinda sounds like a week fuel pump to me that is bleeding off when it sits and not giving you enough pressure all the time

 

[adsm08]

Honestly, sounds kinda like what mine did when I left the roll pin out of the distributor drive gear, if you got it started it would run, poorly, but it would run. getting it to start was the trick.

Also, if you get it 180 off it won't necessarily miss or backfire. There is a small window in the timing around exactly 180 off where the fuel is pumped out of the cylinder before the plug fires. I found it once. couldn't figure put why i had no joy at all on getting it start.

 

[adsm08]

if you can get it running use the light. by messing with it by hand you could just be making the timing off when it could be possibly fine right now. i got my timing light off kijiji similar to craigslist for 20$ i used it to get my timing perfect after i had manually adjusted it. beleve me when i say you cant get the timing right by just listening to the engine. i did it on a 87 b2 only took 30 mins or so.

I can get my timing to within 1/2 degree of where I want it just by listening. I only use lights for fine tuning and making sure I didn't move it accidentally while tightening the hold-down.

Its possible it just takes a practiced ear. I have done an inordinate number of ignition system overhauls on older vehicles over the years and have had to time engines from scratch after tearing the distributor stems completely apart.

My favorite was in school on our engine repair final. The school had a 97 5.0 F-150. The prof pulled the stem out, spun the dizzy, then held his remote crank button for 10 seconds and said "here, time it, you have 5 minutes."

 

[davidkfannin]

It was the cold weather no doubt in my mind!!! But the timing is messed up now that i tried to adjust it by hand

 

[davidkfannin]

the only v6 available for the 83 -85 rangers was the carburated 2.8l, in 86 they switched to the fuel injected 2.9l which is un mistakeable because it has a big intake that says 2.9l fuel injected.

Heres a photo of my engine (after a dura spark conversion and a/c removed.)

the thermostat housing may have been changed between 84 and 85 as the 85 2.8 recieved extra wiring and vacuum stuff. The engine on the tech page may also have been from a 70's stang 2 or capric cause they had the same engines.

yeah thats my engine atleast im preaty sure it is lol lol by the way what is the thing on the upper radiator hose that i thought was the fn thermostat housing bucause i broke it in half and i cant find a new one?

 

[adsm08]

That would likely be a thermostat housing. Is there a thermostat in it?