timing my car? can you guys give me some pointers?

[91foxbod50]

hey guys, im going to be timing my mustang today. i was going to set it at 12 degrees. but i cannot remember if its btdc or after. also is btdc on the left side of the balancer? from the view of looking at the nose of the car. its a 1985 5.0 and is auto bone stock. thanks in advance for any help. i need to get it running right, so my wife can drive.

 

[salprint]

I don't know what the correct timing is for your car, but BTDC is easily found by looking at the rotation of the pully. If the pully rotates clockwise and you have a plate that shows a 0 then it would be the 12 BEFORE it gets to the 0. If it is After top dead center then it would be the 12 after the zero going by the direction of the pully.

 

[FoxGT87]

when trying to add timing which way do you move the distributor? left or right if your looking at the nose of the car? i was going to make a post about timing a car but you beat me to it.

 

[91foxbod50]

Thanks for the quick reply, i am about to give it a shot. Should i set the timing btdc or after?

 

[91foxbod50]

Just for shyts and giggles i changed the firing order up. I put it on the non ho firing order. It ran with no misses. However when i go to put it in gear now it stalls haha just my luck

 

[RsStanG1987]

Just for shyts and giggles i changed the firing order up. I put it on the non ho firing order. It ran with no misses. However when i go to put it in gear now it stalls haha just my luck

why the hell would you do that? of course its not going to run right

 

[NIKwoaC]

Yikes, this thread is off to a bad start.

You set timing BEFORE TDC. The reason you set timing advance is so the flame front has a chance to expand before the piston reaches the top of its stroke (TDC). If you accidentally set timing after TDC, you'd know it, because the car would run like crap and the headers would probably glow red.

For the love of God, please put the spark plug wires back where they are supposed to be for the HO firing order. Playing around like that risks blowing up your engine.

Also, make sure you're setting your timing with the SPOUT connector unplugged, and then don't forget to put it back in when you're done.

when trying to add timing which way do you move the distributor? left or right if your looking at the nose of the car? i was going to make a post about timing a car but you beat me to it.

IIRC, I believe rotating it clockwise advances it, but once you get in there and twist it, you'll be able to see with the timing light whether you're advancing or retarding it.

 

[FoxGT87]

how do you find TDC? is it on the crank pulley? if i was just wanting to add a little timing would i have to first get the car to TDC?

 

[salprint]

how do you find TDC? is it on the crank pulley? if i was just wanting to add a little timing would i have to first get the car to TDC?

Add a little timing? This is a joke, right?

 

[CDQICKGT]

No... You can "add"/advance or "pull"/retard timing without setting to btc. Just be careful running it hard until you see how it's gonna like it. Some people get away with 18*with no detonation. I have no idea why that would be funny and or a joke...?

 

[NIKwoaC]

how do you find TDC? is it on the crank pulley? if i was just wanting to add a little timing would i have to first get the car to TDC?

You put the timing light clamp on the #1 plug wire, then it will automatically light up every time the #1 plug fires. So it kind of “finds” TDC for you.

Add a little timing? This is a joke, right?

Why is it a joke? If he wants to go from 10 degrees advance to 12 degrees advance, this would normally be called “adding” 2 degrees of timing.

 

[91foxbod50]

Well its a 85 gt 5.0 with an automatic transmission. I dont think those were h.o motors. Only the carbed manual ones were. This has central fuel injection

 

[salprint]

Sorry..just never heard that term before. I've heard of advancing or retarding, never heard "adding". Excuse me.

 

[RsStanG1987]

Well its a 85 gt 5.0 with an automatic transmission. I dont think those were h.o motors. Only the carbed manual ones were. This has central fuel injection

Take your hand and slap yourself. it says right on the stock aircleaner lid 5.0 HO. The difference on the 2 motors i believe i may be wrong but the standard tranny got a regular carb and the auto had like some throttle body injection or something.

 

[91foxbod50]

Odd, I put the plug wires to ho firing order and it runs terrible. Even adjusting the distributor and nothing it just putts. Its as iff the firing order is off but i checked it

 

[RsStanG1987]

was the motor swapped at some point?

 

[RsStanG1987]

1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 was this the firing order u used?

 

[91foxbod50]

This the firing order i found for the 85 h.o 5.0
1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

This is the one that was wrong but made the car run better.
1-2-7-3-6-5-4-8

Each firing order is counter clockwise..

I wasnt told anything about a swap, although the motor looks like it was just painted recently..

If thats the 85 firing order im gonna be P!SSED i called 4 ford dealers to get it. I couldnt find it on the net.

 

[RsStanG1987]

This the firing order i found for the 85 h.o 5.0
1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

This is the one that was wrong but made the car run better.
1-2-7-3-6-5-4-8

Each firing order is counter clockwise..

I wasnt told anything about a swap, although the motor looks like it was just painted recently..

If thats the 85 firing order im gonna be P!SSED i called 4 ford dealers to get it. I couldnt find it on the net.

the second firing order you posted isnt even a non ho firing order
the one i posted is for an 85 gt with auto trans. got it from autozones website.

 

[91foxbod50]

Good to know, ill go through autozone for that kinda stuff. Thanks for your help rsstang, ill update when i try the new firing order out.