Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 292 timing

let me say this is a great website. i'm having a problem with my 292. i put this engine in over a year ago and it ran fine after i changed the head- first on was cracked. now all of a sudden when i set it to specs it sputters and won't accelerate. when i set it by ear and a vacume gauge it runs fine. timing should be 4 deg BTDC but i have to set it farther mabey 15 deg BTDC i don't know for sure its off the tab. i need some insight because i have no auto training and only know what i have read. thanks hoggyrubber

hello...well, are all the vacuum lines hooked up? How is vac. unit on distributor? is it functioning correctly?....

while setting the timing do you have the vacum line unhooked? if not that is what you are supposed to do. i say this only because you said you have no auto training. tom

Are you using the timing marks on the harmonic balancer? It may have gone bad and slipped.

i think the balancer and key holding it in place are fine.the dist. seems to be working fine. but i haven't checked the vacum unit on it.it seems to have only two lines.the crankcase vent where i take the vacum reading and the metal line going to dist. both were hooked up when i tested timing.i will try to see which one i need to unhook while i take reading.also how can i test the unit on the dist. thanks for all the info., hoggyrubber

i tried several things today.i unhooked the line from carb to dist. and pluged both lines. the timing reading was the same i also pluged the line going to the pcv valve it didn't change it either.i did notice that while i was taking the timing reading when i pulled back on the throttle the mark on the balancer would move toward the top of the engine ( that's advanced i think ). i don't know if this is normal or not. i took a mirror and tried to look at the rubber on the balancer and it looked ok. i guess i would have to take out radiater to take the holding bolt out of crank snout to see if the key holding it in place is bad.i will try that next i can't think of anything else it would be.is the line going to the dist. the line i need to take loose to do the timing and should it be pluged or left open? anything else i should try.in order for it to run well it still has to be set about 10 or 15 deg BTDC. thanks, hoggyrubber

Before you get to far with all this I have a Question/s for you. 1) is this a stock cam? 2) have you ever had the dist. Out of the motor.?

If So check and Make sure the #1 piston is top Dead Center Then Take the cap off and MAKE SURE the rotor is at the #1 plug If Not you may very well be 1 tooth off. Is take the dist back out and set it at #1 Then fire it back up and Recheck the timing. Hope this helps }[oooooo]

Ps also double check your valve adjustment It maybe to tight Or too lose.

sorry for the delay on the reply, the weather and time off isn't aligning up. i think i have learned a lot about the vaccum advance by reading some old posts on this site. i see why it would need to be disconnected so timing is not advanced with the rpm's. i don't fully understand why it needs to be advanced at higher rpm's for proper ignition but i guess that can be reading for another time. i made a tdc tester out of a old spark plug. i busted out the ceramic and slide in a old push rod and welded it in place. i could slide a small rod down in it thru the push rod. as i turned the motor the rod rose then drop. so i found out that the balancer is right- best i can tell. when the piston is at tdc the mark is at zero. the cam is stock and dist. has never been out as far as i know.i tried what twisted6 said to and took off the cap it looks to me that it is pointing between 2 and 6 spark plug wires. so what does this mean? how could it even run that far off ? is it 180 deg off because its on the exaust stroke and if i turn the engine a complete revolution will the dist. move 180 deg? its still not off exactly 180 so i guess it could be one tooth off if thats the case. i will mess with it again the next day i have off. any more advice would be helpful thanks for all that has been given. hoggyrubber

You are at TDC of the beginning of the intake stroke of #1 rather than TDC of the power stroke, remember that the crankshaft turns twice per power stroke on a four stroke engine.

well today i took out the dist. and moved it over a tooth. this didn't help when the timing was set it ran rough and i couldn't twist dist. enough to advance it enough for it to run smooth.i guess i should try the valve adjustment. about a year ago i did the adjustment when i switched heads.i think it was 1 full turn past zero lash of push rod when the rotor is pointing at that plug wire.i may also check the balancer too. other than that i'm not sure it may be something simple i just haven't thought of. thanks for all your posts. hoggyrubber

Are you adjusting the valve lash while the engine is off? You will get a much better results if you set the valve lash while the engine is running. That can get kind of messy with oil so I take an old valve cover cut the top out enough to be able to adjust the lash.

Start on one end and back it out one valve at a time till it starts chattering. Then turn in till just after the chattering stops then turn in 1/4 turn at a time, and wait ten seconds between each 1/4 turn until you reach the full 1 turn. This allows the lifters to adjust. Run through the valves like this two times and your valve lash should be good to go.

finally found the problem it was the gear on the distributer. the pin was wore out and the gear had that much slop in it. i should have looked closer when i tried moving it over one tooth. now i have installed a hei dist. and it runs smooth and the timing is just right. thanks for the help and ideas, hoggyrubber