440 Timing

[ChryslerCaptain]

Im having a weird problem with my 72 Imp. I cant find my timing mark on the balancer ANYWHERE I’ve checked several times and it’s not 180° out. It runs really bad cold but gets better when warmed up thought it was a choke issue but that doesn’t seem to be the case any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[65Port]

No notch/little groove? What happens when you put a timing light on it? Is that when you cannot see it as well as a static visual inspection? Is it crudded up with dirt/oil/grime? Maybe spray degreaser? Just throwing stuff out there.

 

[ChryslerCaptain]

No notch/little groove? What happens when you put a timing light on it? Is that when you cannot see it as well as a static visual inspection? Is it crudded up with dirt/oil/grime? Maybe spray degreaser? Just throwing stuff out there.

Yep I cant see the notch as far as grease/dirt goes this is a fresh engine and I’ve highlighted the notch with a white paint pen. And I still cannot find it with the timing light

 

[65Port]

You can confirm the dist is pointing to num 1 with cyl 1 at TDC to get in ballpark. Any popping. coughing or is it just plain running bad? If new/fresh engine, it must have been run up for testing, no? Wasn't a static close-enough timing set then?

 

[Big_John]

Yep I cant see the notch as far as grease/dirt goes this is a fresh engine and I’ve highlighted the notch with a white paint pen. And I still cannot find it with the timing light

First, make sure you are timing off #1 plug wire. I know, sounds too simple, but sometimes we gotta go back to basics.

If everything is correct, there's a chance the outside ring of the balancer has slipped. Being a fresh engine, I would have expected that would be caught in assembly or at least when the engine was first fired up.

 

[Lowbudget]

First of all find TDC. Mark it on the balancer ring, Then it doesn't matter if it has slipped. But if has slipped it will probably slip some more. Summit, Jegs sells tapes for the balancer ring. You can get a fancy tool to do TDC or build out of an old spark plug or get close enough with a finger and a screw driver. Or go old school and time it by ear.