Timing?

[Troy]

Once again, my car is running like doo doo...

The base timing on my 440 was set at 18 degrees. Now it will only run (er, idle) at 45 degrees. Is this approximately what would happen if my timing chain jumped a tooth? I had a backfire at WOT and it hasn't run right since. It will not run at all with the timing set to anything less then 37-38 degrees.

Troy

[resq302]

possible it could have jumped a tooth.  You have metal timing gears or the original nylon teeth?

[firefighter3931]

Troy, the outer ring on the harmonic balancer may have slipped. If it has an OEM style balancer have a look at the elastomer ring for signs of cracking. The rubber will vulcanize over time.

One tooth on the timing chain is 14* of cam timing....just for reference.



Ron

[Troy]

Well, the car also seems down on power and seems to run rough. I can putt around town but any spirited driving is out. I also used to have a wider range of movement with the distributor before it would "fall off". Now it's only a few degrees. If only the balancer had slipped I don't think it would have changed anything else (ie I should be able to tune the car with a vacuum gauge without ever looking at the timing mark).

However, I'll try to get a good look at the balance and see what I can see.

Troy