Very good video, from a ford guy. This is the best most well put together video for TDC I've seen, and it has helped me tremendously. Can wait to try it out to get my 68 falcon on road!
I have a 4.2mwm engine and info on this is miniscule. Had a blown head gasket that I'm replacing. Been scratching my head on how to get all the drive gears to be synchronized. This video got me confident on what I need to do. Thank you
Good video, Jeremy I like your style, man! Only thing I might add, is that when measuring around the balancer to divide the two stop points in half - use a tape. F. Magellan told me that.
For instances where you need to mark/confirm TDC on the harmonic balancer and are using an adjustable piston stop tool, how do you determine the correct stop depth of the tool?
That's why you have to rotate back the other way, mark both stops and then centre the 2 marks. It doesn't matter how deep it is. If you make it deeper or shallower the centre between the 2 marks will still be the same.
The easy way to find the number one cylinder is to look down at the engine from the front. Look at the two front pistons that are closest to you. You will notice that one is slightly closer than the other. The one that is closer to the front is the number one piston.☝️🧐
I have an issue. How to you find TDC if the harmonic balancer has been replaced and it doesn't have a mark on it? There's no mark on the harmonic balance in order to align with the indicator on the engine. What's the simplest way to get it to TDC? The vehicle is a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4.0 engine
Very good video, .Just remember you can blow air into the cylinder and you will either hear the air.Go through the exhaust or the intake so you don't have to remove the valve cover
@Holley Thank you, Is there any way to view the inside of the engine without removing any cover? Can the inside of the engine be viewed through oil filler cap hole for the purpose of ignition timing setting?
Hi, I watched your video and find it to be very helpful. Now, I have a question. How do I line up the crankshaft to tdc when replacing the timing chain it was sponed without having the timing chain mounted. I have a 2005 nissan pathfinder se. Please any input will be appreciated.
I took all of these classes plus woods & shop class. From 7th-12th graduated 1994. They need to bring it back! But its not lookn good and kids are suffering from it. I prefer to homeschool for alot of these reasons.
The stop tool is cool and all but their adjustable. Meaning you can screw it in or out. So if you’ve got it screwed in to far, won’t that give you a false TDC????
Important Correction: The Buick Nailhead cylinder numbering is incorrect. #1 is passenger side (left) front, and the distributor is at firewall - not at the timing cover. The Firing order shown IS correct though. My first car was a 1965 Buick Electra 225 with a 401 (445) in 1971 and I learned a bunch about working on cars with that beast. Thank You, Mom, for the beautiful hand-me -down! The '65 Buick was one of the five best cars I've owned, and I've owned over 70. Yes I am old :) Happy Trails! - Sandy
You can use a bolt of same sparkplug thread diameter..a little longer than spark plug..enough to go down past the actual TDC ..if it's a hollow piston..you will need a longer threaded bolt..meanwhile, attach bolt to a rod for installation convenience..
Great video, although when saying the rocker arms should be at their highest point, you point to the opposite end of one of the rocker arms (the exhaust one), which is confusing as that will be at its lowest point..
I know this video is mainly for clocking distributors but I found it interesting that you didn't show setting up a degree wheel with the positive stop tool, but I work on DOHC motors that have adjustable sprockets on both cams (Bikes), plus we need to add timing marks for checking/setting Ignition Reference Angle and Inductive Delay in Holley EFI Parameters 😎
A few technical points if I may: With any multiple cylinder engine, # 1 cylinder is always the furthest cylinder forward....i.e., furthest from the flywheel end. Automotive, Industrial or Marine engine rotation is always determined when viewed from the flywheel end. In other words, a standard LH Rotation engine turns CCW when viewed from the flywheel end..... in other words, CW if viewed from the harmonic balancer end. 1.... Never assume that your harmonic balancer ZERO marking and your timing tab ZERO indicate true TDC. Outer rings can slip, and timing tabs can become damaged. 2.....Try to NOT view this as if overly complex.... it is not. Just follow these simple steps, and you will find true # 1 cylinder TDC. When locating TRUE # 1 cylinder Top Dead Center, we use a PPS procedure.... (positive piston stop). By using the PPS procedure, we eliminate any crankshaft dwell that occurs when a piston has theoretically reached top of stroke. (there will be some crankshaft movement while the piston appears to be stationary at theoretical top of stroke) Ideally, we want to stop the piston at approximately 30 degrees before theoretical top of stroke. 30 degrees is a suggestion only. You can use 25, 28, 32 or 35 degrees, as longs as it is the same angle in either direction towards the "stop". Once the 30ish degrees has been established, the PPS tool must be locked into position. Most will offer a jam nut. First, we rotate the crankshaft until the piston is gently stopped by the PPS tool. Then we make a mark on the harmonic balancer (or on the flywheel) that aligns with a stationary pointer. Next, we then rotate the crankshaft in the opposite direction (no need to worry about camshaft drive chain/sprocket slack) until once again the piston is gently stopped by the PPS tool. Now we make another mark that aligns with a stationary pointer. This leaves us with two new marks that have aligned with the pointer while the crankshaft/piston had been stopped at approximately 30 degrees at either side of the two rotational directions. Next, we accurately and equally "split" the distance between these two new marks. At this point, we mark the "split" location. With the PPS tool now removed, we rotate the crankshaft to the location whereby the pointer now aligns with the new "split" marking. (it does not matter which direction we rotate the crankshaft) This is True # 1 TDC. This procedure is used by many profresional High Performance Engine builders.
On Pontiac engines i.e. 326, 350, 389,400,455 the passenger cylinder head / front cylinder is the furthest forward but the # 1 cylinder is on the drivers side ; strange but true . @@markemery49
i have a flat head 6ix 1953 i set 4 deg befor tdc simple i remove plugs i can rotate eng with fan blade line up pointer wih 4th mark before tdc remove dist cap rotor is pointing # 6cy. spin eng with starter use timing light to ck # 4 if slowly twist dist slow lock down when #4 this is 2-3 min operation she will crank now
They make a mistake when measuring distance between marks to find true tdc… you can’t measure distance like that. You don’t measure the balancer curve…. This procedure isn’t accurate at all…..
I have never seen so much work to find top dead center,i recently installed a distributor in a buddys car and i hadn't done it about 6 years or so,took me about 3 minutes and we had the car going however i got interested in the subject and started watching some YT videos, my word, wish i hadn't,lol, its really not that hard,definitely dont need to take any exhaust off and you dont need any special tools, if the car doesn't start and you think you have it perfect then your off 180, turn it around and try it again,chances are it will fire right up. Not sure how the old timers knew but they did, using that finger in the hole method and it always fired on the first try, ha ha ha ha
i was changing the head of my mercrusier 7.4 vertoc 454 1996 : 2000 i changed the head and saw a video to prime the engine using an old distributor .. i did that but when i put the engine together i messed up the distribution timing the engine want start and it is back firing ru-vid.comQdiEJcoGeWk
Thank god all of this will be by the wayside with electric motors that have only two moving parts and good for one million miles. It will suck to be an expert on these combustion engines, fuel and exhaust systems in 12 years where you will find them at renaissance fairs
You really drank the koolaid. So, in now 10 years, everyone on the planet will have afforded to purchase an electric vehicle? Where did you get the 1 million miles from? AOC? I’d also rather be at a Renaissance than at one of those kindergarten drag shows. Mr Biden and his agenda, along with WEP, can stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Strange comment from someone watching a video about a engine being timed. 99.9 percent of all vehicles being made these days have no distributors so if anyone is watching a video like this where there is something vintage being worked on is because= they enjoy working on their cars and to them its not a "Thank God" situation like yours, let others enjoy real cars, we dont care for high powered overpriced Golf carts.
