87 5.0 Troubleshooting & Solutions

Lateralgeez said:

Oops, looks like timing is supposed to advance once you reconnect the spout plug.

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That is correct sir.

On the port work use a gasket that will fit the head port snugly (not much of the port exposed). Match the intake to the gasket, don't go to far. Then blend it back into the runner about an inch or so, hit the rest of it with sandpaper rolls to knock the casting flash off. This will net good gains without becoming too involved.
IMO. the gt40 intake flows more than the e7 heads do already so just a little work will go a long way.

Lateralgeez said:

Thanks for the tips. Engine mods might be a while due to budget etc. I'd like to get some gt40 heads and a Bama chip Bama SCT 4-Bank Mustang Eliminator Chip w/ 3 Custom Tunes 6600 (87-93 5.0L) - Free Shipping

It has intake and headers already and I don't have an a/f gauge... so doing more without tune might not go over too well esp being speed density.

Are you running a chip/tune? I know some people use quarter horse.

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<snort> Bama chip

mikestang63 said:

<snort> Bama chip

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Well my car is Bama chipped BUT..... it will soon be coming out in favor of a megasquirt ecu.
Do yourself a favor and save your money DON'T BUY THE CHIP!!! Get a wide band and an adjustable fpr. You can do wonders with a fpr and timing.
These computers even speed density can adjust for changes you make (to an extent) except speed density has a hard time with "lopey" cams.
Or you can forgo the wideband and just learn to read the plugs. Wot blast kill the engine as soon as you lift off the gas, pull the plugs. This is still how we tune out at the track.

Lateralgeez said:

IThe computer will not give any codes so I'm on my own. If all the above turn up nothing I might send my wiring harness to McCully racing for a clean up. It's possible that somewhere in the mess a wire is grounding (might be the same one that sets off the horn).

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No code 11 (two flashes when the computer dumps the codes)? A perfectly functioning system will always get a code 11, it is the everything is OK code. The 11 code is computer passed its internal self test.
If you don't get an 11, you have computer or wiring problems.
Please check and repost.

Lateralgeez said:

No code 11, nothing.

The car idles but backfires loudly under load. I barely let out the clutch and bang! So I decided to check dizzy, maybe I set it wrong.

Now we have a bit of a problem. When I turn the motor to tdc, the rotor is pointing to cyl 6. I loosen the distributor and line it up with cyl 1. Then (spout plug removed) crank the engine. It starts then dies. I rotate engine to tdc and check the rotor. It's back at cyl 6 again.

Repeat three times.

Car is possessed.

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your balancer may have slipped

Lateralgeez said:

This doesn't look too great. Guess the balancer has slipped. Maybe caused by the power steering pulley being slightly out of line (ghetto bracket)

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you owe me a beer. lol

That balancer is toast BUT to know if it is slipped. turn the motor and make sure you are at #1 TDC not by using the marks on the balancer, but by taking out the spark plug and putting a small piece of tissue paper in the hole. when you get to TDC on the compression stroke, the paper will shoot out. Then take a look at the balancer and see how far off the marks are.

Make sure you rent the proper balancer pulller and remove the washer before you install the puller or you'll never get the balancer off. Throw the new one in bioling water or an oven for 30 minutes to help it slide on the crank. Put some oil on the crank snout to help it slide on, and check the timing cover seal while your are at it. Torque it down to 90 #. Use a new ARP balancer bolt.

Putting the distributor back in and setting the timing.

Revised 28-Jul-2013 to include warning about putting spark plug leads in a different location to attempt a to fix a distributor incorrectly installed.

You can forget about anything beyond this point if you don't have access to a timing light. You will never get the timing set right without one.


Putting the distributor back in is fairly simple. Pull #1 sparkplug, put your finger in the sparkplug hole, crank the engine until you feel compression. Then line up the TDC mark on the balancer with the pointer on the engine block.

The distributor starts out with the #1 plug wire lined up at about 12:00 with you facing it. Align the rotor to about 11:00, since it will turn clockwise as it slides into place.

Align the distributor rotor up with the #1 position marked on the cap, slide the distributor down into the block, (you may have to wiggle the rotor slightly to get the gear to engage) and then note where the rotor is pointing.
If it still lines up with #1 position on the cap, install the clamp and bolt. If not, pull it out and turn 1 tooth forwards or backwards and try again. Put the #1 spark plug back in and tighten it down, put the clamp on the distributor, but don't tighten it too much, as you will have to move the distributor to set the timing. Note that there is no such thing as one tooth off on a 5.0 Mustang if you follow the spark plug wire order on the distributor cap. If it doesn't align perfectly with #1 position, you can turn the distributor until it does. The only problem is that if you are too far one way or the other, you can't turn the distributor enough to get the 10-14 degree optimum timing range. Don't move the wires from the positions shown on the cap on fuel injected engines!!!! The #1 position cast into the cap MUST have the spark plug wire for #1 cylinder in it. Do it differently and the timing for the fuel injectors will be off. The computer uses the PIP sensor to time injector operation by sensing the wide slot in the PIP sensor shutter wheel. If the injector timing of #1 and the firing of #1 do not occur at the right time, the injector timing for all other cylinders will be affected.

Setting the timing:
Paint the mark on the harmonic balancer with paint -choose 10 degrees BTC or 14 degrees BTC or something else if you have NO2 or other power adder. I try to paint TDC red, 10 degrees BTC white and 14 degrees BTC blue.

10 degrees BTC is towards the drivers side marks.

Note: setting the timing beyond the 10 degree mark will give you a little more low speed acceleration. BUT you will need to run 93 octane to avoid pinging and engine damage. Pinging is very hard to hear at full throttle, so it could be present and you would not hear it.

Simplified diagram of what it looks like. Not all the marks are shown for ease of viewing.

ATC ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '!' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' BTC
---------------- > Direction of Rotation as viewed standing in front of the engine.

The ' is 2 degrees.
The ! is TDC
The ' is 10 degrees BTC
Set the timing 5 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 5 marks towards the driver's side to get 10 degrees.

To get 14 degrees, set it 7 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 7 marks towards the driver's side to get 14 degrees.

The paint marks you make are your friends if you do it correctly. They are much easier to see than the marks machined into the harmonic balancer hub.

At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light. Connect timing light up to battery & #1 spark plug. Then start the engine.

Remove the SPOUT connector (do a search if you want a picture of the SPOUT connector) It is the 2 pin rectangular plug on the distributor wiring harness. Only the EFI Mustang engines have a SPOUT. If yours is not EFI, check for a SPOUT: if you don’t find one, skip any instructions regarding the SPOUT
Warning: there are only two places the SPOUT should be when you time the engine. The first place is in your pocket while you are setting the timing and the second is back in the harness when you finish. The little bugger is too easy to lose and too hard to find a replacement.

Start engine, loosen distributor hold down with a 1/2" universal socket. Shine the timing light on the marks and turn the distributor until the mark lines up with the edge of the timing pointer. Tighten down the distributor hold down bolt, Replace the SPOUT connector and you are done.

The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8

Remove one of the nuts from the header collector and take it to any hardware or auto parts store and have them match it up with the right thread pitch.