What am i doing wrong

[Twister]

I bought an 87 and it needed its head replaced. So replaced them, but now i cant figure out the dizzy. I set the engine to TDC, drop the dizzy in with the rotor pointing where i can easily but the plug wire in the tower in falls on. But i can never get the timing mark to appear when timing off the number one plug wire. The first time it appeared on the number 6 plug wire, so i redid the dizzy on Sunday and now it only appears on the number 4 plug wire, so i am getting closer

So am i just not getting it in right, not getting it to true TDC?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

What am i doing wrong

You should have put a V8 in it


How old is the harmonic balancer? The rubber can let go and let the outer part spin on the inner part and read wrong.

 

[Psychopete]

it should blink on #1 no matter what. It will fire, just at the wrong time. Make sure the block is grounded well, and check behind the engine for anything that might have been missed. If the coil plug was taken out, take a look there too or damaged terminals or corrosion.

What I do for tdc is take out the #1 plug, turn the balancer just until air just stops pushing out, line up the balancer to tdc. Then look to see how much it's going to turn the dist (test run) and set up the rotor to be on #1 on your dist cap when you drop it in. But either way it is close. hook up a momentary switch to your starter so you can adjust it when the engine is cranking over (key on run). a dot of white paint marker on 10BTDC is a big help.

Edit: Assuming you have the SPOUT connector removed!

 

[Twister]

You should have put a V8 in it


How old is the harmonic balancer? The rubber can let go and let the outer part spin on the inner part and read wrong.

I know i should have put a v8 in it , but the 2.9 in the truck ran good but was leaking coolant in the oil.

The balancer as far i know is factory.

it should blink on #1 no matter what. It will fire, just at the wrong time. Make sure the block is grounded well, and check behind the engine for anything that might have been missed. If the coil plug was taken out, take a look there too or damaged terminals or corrosion.

What I do for tdc is take out the #1 plug, turn the balancer just until air just stops pushing out, line up the balancer to tdc. Then look to see how much it's going to turn the dist (test run) and set up the rotor to be on #1 on your dist cap when you drop it in. But either way it is close. hook up a momentary switch to your starter so you can adjust it when the engine is cranking over (key on run). a dot of white paint marker on 10BTDC is a big help.

Edit: Assuming you have the SPOUT connector removed!

All of this is with the spout removed. I dont know why the timing mark only shows up on the number 4 plug wire, it doesn't make sense to me. I am not able to mess with the truck till Thursday. So i will double check all the grounds and check all the wires.

 

[Twister]

Man i hate cars. I cleaned all my grounds and now the truck wont crank. I think i messed up a ground, i am going to work on it tomorrow.

I am kind of leaning towards the balances slipping. My situation fits the symptoms. I get it running but the timing marks are way off the pointer.

How can i check to see if it has indeed slipped, do i try and move it back an forth or what?

 

[Twister]

Well u figured out the no crank problem. I forgot to plug back in the dizzy lol