Diesel Timing

[fieladave]

Don't mean to be a pain in the ass guy's but why is it every time somebody has a performance drama and ask's a question on this forum the old chestnut "timing" is run up the flagpole?
On a diesel if the timing's out you will know it! it can't go out of timing on it's own it requires assistance from a mechanic if your engine has not had the injection pump off or the timing messed with it won't cuase a problem
PS: I really enjoy your forum , you blokes have some great stuff on turbo's/intercooler's and some great technical info in a really easy to use format. I am a diesel mechanic with 15yr's experience and I have a 80 series with 1hz basically standard and am planning to turbo & aftercool it .

[brownbear]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't see what your saying. I hardly ever see anyone on here suggest the timing is off on a diesel. There may be a handful, but hardly a flag pole of them.

So where are ya? Glad to have a 15 yr diesel mech on here...

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by fieladave

Don't mean to be a pain in the ass guy's but why is it every time somebody has a performance drama and ask's a question on this forum the old chestnut "timing" is run up the flagpole?
On a diesel if the timing's out you will know it! it can't go out of timing on it's own it requires assistance from a mechanic if your engine has not had the injection pump off or the timing messed with it won't cuase a problem
PS: I really enjoy your forum , you blokes have some great stuff on turbo's/intercooler's and some great technical info in a really easy to use format. I am a diesel mechanic with 15yr's experience and I have a 80 series with 1hz basically standard and am planning to turbo & aftercool it .

True ,but I think some really mean adjustment within the pump .
Most of us would love to have a comprehensive knowledge of injector pumps and I love sneaking into my diesel mechanics pump assembly room while he is working and seeing all the parts layed out.
I know that as a novice it was a great thrill to bolt all the outside parts inc the pump on to a rebuilt 1HZ ,install it and listen to it come to life almost straight away with no missing.

[Tapage]

Nice plan dude .. keep us posted !

[UpsideDown]

Timing can be affected by parts going out of spec over time... adjusting is more of a band-aid than a solution in that situation.

[fieladave]

I'm in Newcastle Australia mate. I notice a lot of the post's are from North America / Canada .It's Interesting to hear guy's havin problem's starting their rig's at 30 below zero .Can't imagine what's that's like . Rekon i'd have trouble starting up myself at those sort of temp's!

[crushers]

as been stated before wear in the pump can definately cause hard starting and poor performance and timing.
personally i have seen very few pumps that wore to the point where we had an issue.
timing is set and as you say and should never really need adjustment unless it has been fiddled with or has high milage on it.
the fuel is set different for different countries though. Japan engines have the fuel turned down for emissions, there is 2 settings in the book, one for Japan and one for the rest of the world. if you are buing your truck from Japan one of the first things you can do to improve the performance is to crankup the fuel 1/3 turn.

cheers

[cruiser_guy]

I'll confess that I do question timing but ONLY when the poster indicates that the engine has been rebuilt which would mean that the pump HAS been taken off. I'm curious how accurate the static method of timing works, perhaps "fieladave" can offer his knowledge of that.
I was told that the timing on the 3B that is in the FJ55 was 7 degrees off after the rebuild and being set as per the static method shown in the manual.

[brownbear]

With the standpipe method, cruiser_guy?

[cruiser_guy]

Originally Posted by brownbear

With the standpipe method, cruiser_guy?

Yep, I did it just like in the shop manual. The diesel shop uses a device clamped over the injection pipe to sense the pulse and a timing light and I was 7 degrees off from their setting.