Timing Issues

there is only one way for the balancer to go on, so its impossible to to put it on wrong.

and theres more to just setting the balancer marks to 0* BTDC, you need to make sure its on the compression stroke on number 1's cylinder (0* mark on balancer is number 1, but could be exhaust stroke rather than compression.

best way to do it....

pop out number 1 plug. have a friend stick his finger in the plug hole. get in the car and bump the starter (take off coil wire to prevent car front starting)

keep bumping the starter until your buds finger pops out of the hole (compression stroke will push the finger out)

now your CLOSE to TDC.

ASSUMING your balancer is correct (stock ones tend to slip as they get alot of miles on them)

you can look down and manually turn the crank to line up 0 on the timing marksif your balancer is accurate, you are now at EXACT TDC on the compression stroke, this is where the firing event cycle is started.

now pop your cap off and see where the rotor is pointing. since your car IS running, i cant see it being too far off. (really cant be too far off or else the car wont run) if its not close. pull the distributor and orient the rotor and housing where the rotor is on the #1 terminal and where the dizzy housing has good adjustment either way to adjust timing. (normaly on my car, my number 1 terminal ends up in around the 11oclock position and the dizzy sits in such a way that the TFI module sits at a 45* angle (pointing towards drivers side headlight.

i think you either didnt get on TDC on the compression stroke or if the balancer is stock it could be old and slipped. if you just cant seem to get it to work for nothing. try a new balancer. aftermarket once dont seem to have rubber in them ( mine doesnt) so they really cant go bad i guess.

It is very likely the balancer has spun. The outer ring is separate from the hub. With age the elastomer holding the two together deteriorates and allows the ring to spin.

The only way to be sure where TDC is is to use a piston stop. You install it in #1 spark plug hole and turn the engine over by hand SLOWLY until it touches the stop. Mark the balancer at your timing pointer. Turn the engine over the other way until it touches again and mark again. Split the difference and that is TDC.

Temporarily you can use timing tape to reset your timing marks but if they are off a new balancer is in order.

You may already know this but the #1 marking on the distributor is important as it is the reference for injector timing. I had an 86 that the previous owner had installed the distributor wrong and just moved the plug wires to make it work. The motor would stumble on acceleration and run poorly at part throttle.