I just put a new distributor in my 96 F150 w/302. It is a TFI-IV and there are no timing marks. Any suggestions or tricks on how to set the timing? There are no settings on the emissions sticker since it's supposed to be set by the on board computer.

 

What do you mean there are no timing marks?

 

The timing marks on the damper are VERY hard to see, but they are there. I suggest you get a paint stick and crawl under the truck. Bump the engine until you can see the marks from the bottom and paint them. There is a 0° mark and a 10° mark.

The timing pointer is at 9:00 on the passenger side of the damper. Rotate the engine until the 10° mark is aligned with the pointer with the engine off. Install your distributor so that the rotor is pointing to #1. This in NOT a random assignment; you MUST use the #1 marked on the cap or the fuel injection sequence will not match the spark sequence. This should put you "close enough" to get it started and allow you to set the base timing correctly.

Pull the SPOUT connector, and set the timing at 10° BTDC at idle.