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IMPORTANT....... which timing marks did you use to set the timing?

this is one place where the Haynes manual is wrong. it tells you to use the marks on the timing gear cover. and on a lot of 4.9s that is wrong.

Ford in there infant wisdom saw fit to put 2 different sets on many of the 4.9s. on mine there is one set on the timing gear cover. dont use this one if you have the other one it is located on the other side or passenger side. it is a metal strip that has notches in it. one big notch which is TDC and smaller notches going both ways out from TDC . there are also 2 different marks on the crank pulley. one square notch that is easy to see. dont use this one. the other correct one is a very small line scribed in the pulley and very hard to see if the pulley is dirty. this is the one to use.

let me know if this pertains to your truck as well. mine is a 95. and most of the ones I have worked on are this way.

 

On the 96 there are 2 faint lines on the pulley, one at TDC and one at 10° BTDC. That allows you to use a regular or a dial back light to set the timing. The pointer is a single post at about 9:00 next to the pulley. Because of the addition of the misfire sendor on the 96, there apparently wasn't room for the notched timing sector.

 

it is a shame that they need to change it so much and the Haynes and other manuals just use the one on the timing gear cover. ford should have removed that one. I know of quit a few peple that have tried to use the wrong one and never could figure out why it would not run. I even know one man that gave up and pulled the engine. I can only imagine how many thousands of houris have been wasted on this. I also dont understand why the publishers of the manuals cant update this kind of thing. but the good thing is we have forums such as this one that are better than any manule



Bruce

 

I have a 1994 F150 XL 4x4 4.9L and the manuals refer me to a emission control label under the hood. Mine of coarse is gone. Should one use TDC? Since there are no numbers on the scale, I am making an assumption.

 

it seems that most are 10 degrees BTC with the sprig disconnected. I would start there. on my 95 4.9 I cant go any over 10 and burn reguler gas.


Bruce

 

If you have a conventional timing light use the 10° BTDC line and be done with it. If you have a dial-back light, use the 0° line and dial in the number of your choice. You'll probably end up at 10°

 

I have a 1986 bronco 4.9l I need timing done.
I can't get it for the life of me.
Been doing it for about a week now.
I'm a noob at timing.
I need a walk threw

 

2 weeks wasted trying to figure out why my truck wouldn’t start after replacing the distributor. I sure wish I had seen this thread when I started. Look forward to getting the old pickup going again.

 

to start with, what year is your 4.9, it makes a difference pre 96 uses a notched sheet metal indicator and the 96 uses a metal spike at the 9 o'clock position on the harmonic balancer. the kicker is the harmonic balancer is pressed on the hub of the pulley via rubber insert and if it has slipped the damned timing marks are not in the right position on the pulley. the 96 timing mark can't be seen from above without removing the serpentine belts, then you only have seconds to see timing marks before the engine starts to overheat.
to get my timing close to right, I removed the #1 plug and caught the #1 cyl coming upon the compression stroke and put a plastic straw in the spark plug hole and kept rotating the engine with a ratchet and socket on the crank pulley bolt until i got to the position where the straw stopped moving up and marked that position on the harmonic balancer with a center punch right under the 0 deg mark on the timing gear cover. then rotating until the straw started to move downward and marked that position under the 0 deg mark. the center or those 2 marks are TDC. I painted the 0 DEg mark and the TDC mark and the !0 degree BTDC with white paint and used this to time with timing light, and running strong today.

 

P.S. don't ask me how IO know all this