how do i get my engine on tdc? do i have to remove the fan to get to the crankpully?

 

Nope bro you don't have to remove that, you can jack the front of the car enough so that you can have a buddy reach under there.. you can do this alone, but it would help to have a buddy crank the motor by hand while you set tdc more accurately

Tools
27mm socket
small breaker bar or decent ratchet.
spark plug socket
very long 3/8 extension ( use this to set tdc also) or long skinny object ( at least 13 inches)
12mm socket/wrench
Phillips screwdriver
timing light to set base timing ( not needed but would be an plus)


this how you do it

1. Remove spark plug from cly #1

2. take your clean extension or any other long solid rod like object. and carefully place it inside cly #1 ( you dont want to scratch/dent piston surface or damage you spark plug threads

3. while the object of choice is inside the cly crank or have a buddy slowly crank the motor using your 27mm socket.

4. Hold your hand on the object. once the piston pushes the object all the way up to the top dead center ( TDC) hold it there.

5. make sure the piston is at the very top of its compression cycle. you will know this because just before the piston goes down again. it actually goes a lil higher then drops down rapidly. if it does just turn the opposite way slowly, you don't have to do another complete cycle.

6. once you have gotten the piston to what you think is the top, you are in the ballpark so to speak

7. take your Phillips screw driver and remove the distributer cap, ( make a mental not of the location of spark plug number 1 becuase thats where you will align the rotor

8. now take you 12mm socket/wrench and remove the two bolts from the distributer and pull it out far enough where the teeth are out and you can rotate the rotor freely

9. line the cap up to this Notch as pictured with the yellow arrows
( taken from KA-t.org)

10. slide the distributer back into the motor with out any major movements. apply light pressure and it will pop back in. if it does not VERY VERY softly rotate the rotor counter clockwise. you should not have to do this if piston number 1 is TDC or close.

11. screw cap back on and insert the bolts into the distributer, but lightly hand tighten them. the reason for this is. if it doesn't fire, slowly rotate the distributer counter clockwise or clock wise while your buddy cranks it for you. if you have done all these steps your timing may be rough, but its with-in range to start and run.

12. after you got it running, its best to perform base timing. ill assist you with that if you need it.

good luck


note
my first time doing this took me 3 try's in the dark lol

 

alright man thanks

 

i just did this today for my high mileage vehicle class

 

ha

lol yea i learned this about 3 years ago,,,, good thing to be able to do.

 

on step 2 what you can also do is put your finger on the plug hole while someone hand cranks the engine.

you should feel pressure building up once it stops, stop cranking. get a flash light and look inside the cylinder at the piston. have your assistant turn the crank slowly and see if it keeps going up or is going down.

adjust accordingly so that it is at it's highest point.

i also use a long rod (car antenna) but you can do damage if your not careful. so you might want to try my idea, but it's up top you.

 

yea thats why i said clean and be very careful lol.. i never had any issue.. also u must have long fingers to be able to stick your finger down that hole lol.

just looking at the piston is not as accurate at placing an object on the piston itself.

 

we used a threaded TDC finderthingy, it just screwed right in

 

coolnesses

 

my bad i was talking about the sohc not the dohc. but yeah the rod (antenna) idea is what i us.

 

ha ha i got you bro..... i didnt even think of that.. i never had to do it on my sohc for the lil time that i had it.

 

You can also look at the crank pulley marking. The pin should be pointing at the red line (0° mark)

 

yea.. you could but it also could be 180 out or something wacky like that... timing is a ***** at times.

this is the pin he talks of Brothers

 

Beyond looking at the timing pin on the crank pulley or using a screw driver like I sometimes do with cylinder 1. I will also look at cam placement and the way the lobes are placed on Cylinder1, (if I am doing a timing chain assembly).
Both lobes should be facing upward adjacent to each other almost at 45degree pitch.
This is what marks TDC, or the end of the compression stroke and the beginning of downward stroke 3.

 

cool info bro....