Hey guys,

I need some solid advise please. I'm looking to set my timing since its set at 18 degrees ...and I never had a distributor on any of my 5.0 mustangs **stick this way***, but the one on my truck will not budge. i have tried soaking it with pb-blaster for 4 days with no luck. I do not want to tap or pry on it since I have seen these break. Any ideas?


thanks a bunch.

 

I don't mean to be rude, but did you loosen the bolt that holds the dizzy in place?

 

Beat me to it, lol. I have never heard of one getting frozen in there. Does it move at all?

 

Beat me to it, lol. I have never heard of one getting frozen in there. Does it move at all?

 

other then the hold down bolt, are you trying to turn it both directions? maybe you are max tolerance and need to restab it to grab another tooth to get it set right?

 

Yes, the 1/2" bolt that holds the distributor is loose. Ive been heat cycling that area with pb blaster and today I gave the dizzy at the base some pretty good love taps and nothing. I'm going bananas. I rechecked the timing at idle and its 2 degrees under the 10 mark. I want to set it to 12 degrees like I've always had my 5.0's at but...this darn thing will not budge...ehhhhhhh

 

DID it! I had to fab a wrench out of 1/4" steel plate. fits right on the hex mid section of the distributor then bends 90 degrees up and bends again 90 degrees. Worked like a charm! moved the dizzy to 12 degrees and runs beautiful! I can't believe how bad this was running and how used I was getting and hating to drive it..It's a blast now! Just one more thing I hear a tick on the pass side under light load while driving. The noise goes away if I floor it and take off, and gets loud again once the rpms go down and the tranny shifts to a higher gear putting a bit more load on the motor. I may have to post on a diff thread.

 

302's in F-series are really particular about plug wire routing. Does it sound like an arc. It tends to disappear at higher rpm's & under load as the voltage ramps up w/ the timing curve.On another subject, I'm running 16BTDC. I have for years. I would suggest at least trying 13.5BTDC. Heres a link for the wiring: http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=23

 

exhaust leak?

 

Thanks, I will re-check the plug wire routing in the am, though I'm leaning towards exhaust leak somewhere.

 

I will try to use a mechanic stethoscope and probe around the manifold and the flange tomorrow for the ticking sound to see if it is in fact an exhaust leak if the weather permits it.



- funny how at runnig now at 12 degrees timing, and on the tranny on what seems to be it's third automatic gear traveling at about 25 easy mph, it sounds like a diesel for about 1 or 2 seconds if I gradually floor it then goes away. Never sounded like this before, even though its running better with a lil more power, it has this new symptom.

 

Not to be confused w/ Pinging? You said it was at 8BTDC when you initially checked the timing. It is very common for mechanics to retard from stock base timing of 10BTDC to hide detonation from a customer or prospective purchaser. It doesn't retard 2 degrees by itself. Do you guys run ethenol back there?

 

Seems like every exhaust I've ever had was on the passenger side!

 

so how did your 5.0 mustangs run if they didn't have distrubutors???

 

WHo what? c'mon If it's a typo I'm sorry, I meant that I normally ran my mustangs at 12 degrees base timing (first line after the 10 degree mark)