The EEC computer only sees the pulse from the crank position sensor. It gets no info from the distributor.
Is the vacuum decal on the fan shroud?
today i set the sleeve pointed to the notch on the dist housing. i also set it at the molded notches .the motor runs better when set at the dist base notch. i don't think its right ,but the motor runs pretty decent. there was no vacuum diagram on the car but i lucked out and found one at the junk yard. thanks for the help..
What position is the rotor in? Does using the alignment slot put the rotor slightly past in a CCW direction of being dead on the #1 plug? Yes whole purpose of this exercise is to get the rotor in the correct relationship with the cap.
Once again, aligning the distributor rotor and cap has no bearing on ignition timing. If you are using a timing light and looking at the damper 20 to 25° advanced sounds normal to me. The relationship between the pulse ring on damper and the crank position sensor will give you a base timing of 10° advanced. The EEC will add some more on top of that.
I gave you all the info from the 84 shop manual and it uses upper cap adapter alignment slot.
I have another book that goes up to 1980 and it shows the alignment slot in the base like you are talking about for EEC III. I am surprised you have both. Are they different? By how much do they disagree with each other?
There were also EEC I and EEC II versions of these "empty" distributors in 78 and 79. These use a rotor that has blades on both sides, an upper blade and a lower blade. It alternately fires the plugs from one end then the other. Definitely a different cap required here.
softouch thanks for taking your time with this issue. the dist cap adapter, has the molded in notches. and the dist base has a notch also . the molded in notch is just past the no.1 electrode on the cap. the dist base notch is closer to the no.5 electrode.that's where it is set at now. i will set the rotor on the molded notches and see if there is any difference ...i 'm sure the relationship of the dist timing affects the fuel delivery. also do you know where i could find the vacuum diagram for this bird? besides trying to find the ford shop manual. for the life of me i don't know how this car even ran with so many things bypassed and disconnected. give me a carbed car anytime. i have 4 pre 74 fords 66 bird, 66 mustang, 69 mark III .and a73 ltd until recently i had a 91 super coupe( rest in pieces).no picnic to diagnose either ...thanks again..
I guess I'm a little confused about how you replaced a timing chain WITHOUT removing the dizzy. The dizzy's gotta come out before the timing cover will come off.
That said, are you absolutely sure the cam was indexed with the crank? There should be timing marks on the crank gear and on the cam gear. They should point at each other. Otherwise, the mechanical logic for the valves would be wrong, and that engine will NEVER run right, no matter where you put the dizzy. Being a tooth or two off with the dizzy is the least of your timing worries.
the motor is a 1983 302 i removed the distributor to check the oil pressure .when i first looked at the motor there was no oil showing on the dipstick. then i did a compression check and didn't get a reading i thought that the motor was run without oil and that the camshaft was broken past the dist drive because when i set the motor to top dead center on the compression stroke the rotor pointed to the no.1 cylinder. then i removed the valve cover, to see if the valvetrain was operating.there was no oil reaching the top of the motor. that's why i removed the dist... and the timing chain can be replaced without removing the distributor on the 302 motor thanks...
From the 84 shop manual: "Rotor Alignment: 1. Remove distributor cap. 2. Remove the rotor 3. To check rotor alignment: a. Rotate engine until No. 1 piston is on compression stroke. b. Slowly rotate the engine until Rotor alignment tool can be inserted in the alignment slots. (Eyeball it) c. Read timing mark on damper indicated by timing pointer. d. If timing mark is 0 degrees ±4 degrees rotor alignment is acceptable
4. To adjust rotor alignment: a. Rotate engine until No, 1 piston is on compression stroke. b. slowly rotate engine until timing pointer aligns with 0 degree timing mark. c. Loosen two sleeve assemble adjustment screws and insert Rotor Alignment tool (Eyeball it). d. Tighten two sleeve assembly adjustment screws."
There is conflicting info on whether there is a big and small slot in the distributor shaft. The shop manual does not say. They assume you have the tool. Just make sure you are on the compression stroke for rhe #1 piston or you could wind up 180° out.
Also the above procedure is for fine tuning it if you are less than a whole gear tooth off.
so basically when i line up the notches and install the rotor it doesn't matter what position the rotor is in. also what notches are supposed to line up? is it the molded in notch on the upper cap adapter?or the notch on the distributor base below the sleeve assembly .i lined it up with notch on the distributor housing. the car is running but the timing is about 20 to 25 degrees ..thanks again.. also this set up is pretty LAME i should have never removed the distributor .... thanks..
i still haven't figured this out yet, all the books show the eec3 system. with the brown ignition module connector. but shows the dist with an oddball cap and rotor i have a regular cap and rotor set up. also the egr system is disconnected from the vacuum source. if set the dist at 10 degrees the car runs but will not idle properly i just want to make sure i have the dist set right before i do anything further. thanks for reading my ramblings ...
The alignment slot in shaft that the rotor goes on is bigger on one side. The big side should line up with the alignment slot in the distributor adapter when #1 is TDC on the compression stoke. Or 5° ATDC as ductape91 says. You can eyeball it. It is just a way to tell if #1 is on the compression stroke or exhaust stroke before you pull the distributor.
Again the distributor on your car just distributes the spark to the correct spark plug. It has nothing to do with timing.
so, let me get this straight. If I'm on number 1 compression,at 5 deg I have to disconnect the bails on the adapter, then lift and rotate it until the center of the 2 tabs ines up with the large slot on the rotor shaft so what position would the rotor be set at initially?.. thanks
to explain this better you can call me at 201 376 1946
the dist appears to be a duraspark III setup .but the cap and rotor are for a conventional dist. the car runs, and did run until the timing chain ped out . now i'm totally confused..i pulled the dist to make sure i had oil pressure. so now i'm trying to sort the dist timing problem out before i can go any further. also how would i align the dist properly? without the dist alignment tool.. again thanks in advance..
I have a 1983 T-bird. 5.0 engine, with a crank sensor and a distributor that can only go 1 way. I can't seem to get the timing rotor to point at #1 cylinder. It points, near it, but doesn't line up exactly. The car runs and I was wondering if there was any other way to adjust the timing, or if there is a certain way it has to be done. It also at 0 on the balancer. If I advance the distributor the car runs better but I don't think that's right. Is there a certain way to set the timing on that setup?
