3FE Distributor Install advice

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Caribou

Caribou

10 Year
Joined
Mar 30, 2015
Threads
30
Messages
248
Location
Pennsylvania
This one is for the timing experts of the 80's series 3FE engine. I've read through some of the titles on Mud already and poured over the FSM and I think I'm close. We're were already replacing the water pump, ps pump, alternator, and radiator when, we decided to pull the distributor and replace the badly leaking push rod cover gasket as well as the front seal and gasket of the timing cover. Now, we are ready for reassembly. Which brings me to the distributor and installation. Like I said, I've followed the FSM and the timing is set, as you will see in the pics (Flywheel - double dots & Cam/Crank dots perfectly aligned). I lined up the notch on the distributor to 12o'clock facing the push rod cover, set the oil pump slot at what I thought was 25 degrees (a little to the left of the 12 o'clock position and began to install the distributor while keeping the hold down flange centered over the bolt hole location. It went in but I get to looking at the FSM pictures and I'm thinking I'm off a tooth. Should I try to remove it and adjust the oil pump slot more towards the 12 o'clock position and try again? It looks like it's directly pointing to the number 4 plug (or last spark plug on the left). Want to get this right, it's me and my son's first opportunity to get involved in working on cruiser engine timing. He got the bug and bought his 92 fj80 after he saw my 40 and he's @RedComet. It sat for awhile before we bought it and so it developed some cooling system issues (among other things LOL) when we put it in daily driver service.
Thanks,
Dave
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Bump bump....could really use some guidance...Like do I have the timing marks set right? Have read other threads saying the cam and crank dot's should be 180 and not together. Following the FSM just not sure about where the rotor is after I set it down in.
The FSM shows a picture and doesn't give a method for determining whether or not it has been set in correctly.
thanks all,
Dave and Jon
 
I believe so. The front timing cover is off and both cam and crank dot marks are lined up together (see pic) and the flywheel is in line with the two small dots.
 
The fsm doesn't say which position the cam and crank dots should be aligned when at TDC. I assumed they would be facing each other together while the flywheel double dots are in line with the needle. If I'm wrong then I'm 180 out
 
Im rotating the crank with a breaker bar. It just seems to me that there should be a little more information about the timing marks and setup in the FSM but I'll I see is how to find TDC without looking at the cam/crank
 
First I lined up the cam/crank dots but didn't see the double dots in the flywheel window. Then I rotated again and lined up the cam/crank dots again and voila, the double dots appeared and lined up perfectly with the needle in the flywheel window. I thinking this is TDC. If so, that is where I am at this point. Just need to know where the rotor should be pointing. I think I may have turned the oil pump slot a bit too far to the left. The FSM says 25 degrees and the pic of it in the FSM looks like anywhere between ten till and high noon.
 
.. it appears according to your picture your distributor is at the right position your timing marks look good when dropping into distributor it can be tricky though to be a tooth off
 
Number one piston is between 9 and 10 o'clock on the distributor I always make a mark lining up with the rotor before I take it off
 
When I dropped the distributor in, I lined up the dot mark so it was facing the push rod cover and made sure the hold down flange was centered above the hold down bolt hole, then made sure the rotor didn't move as I was descending down in. The FSM pic shows the rotor in its final position slightly closer to and almost in line with distributor cap bolt hole. My pic looks a little bit further away, making me think I'm a tooth off. What do you think?
 
It's hard to say you do look a tooth off if you pull the distributor up and move it a tooth forward I wonder how far that will put you in front of that bolt hole I don't remember when I did mine like I said I made a mark lining up with the rotor with a marker before I took it off or you may not be a tooth off if you move the crank just a hair the distributor will move quite a bit you can always put it back together and see how it runs and if you're off just pulled in distributor off and moving a tooth forward it's easy
 
Just move it tooth forward and see where that puts you if you're off you still have access to the distributor with everything back on .
 
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