Timing gurus chime in! - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

Jersthecool · 01-08-2013, 06:08 PM

So when I did my headgasket I obviously had to do my timing. When we pulled the head off I didn't know there was darker spots so I just colored the spots on the chain that the 2 holes on the cams sat on. When reassembling it I put it on exactly the same way making sure the crank was at tdc and the 2 sharpied in dots line up exactly with the cams. The car ran perfect before so putting it back exactly the same it had to be right. However when installing the CAS I didn't know it had to be stabbed in a certain way so that you have adjustment on both sides, I thought as long at the dots lined up it was good.

So down the road when I finally try to start it, it would start and idle for about 2 seconds and die and smelled like heavy gas, so I pulled the cover off and "re-did" the timing. I then realized there were 2 dark chain links and 1 yellow one so I instantly thought to follow those and after rotating the crank 100 times they never lined up the closest they would get was 1 link off. That was when I determined the chain was off the crank one link. So stupid me, being frustrated, and super tired working at 2 in the morning trying to get it working thought for some reason "the chain had to be right and needed to match up or it wouldn't work".

So for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to rotate the crank clockwise a bit (it's now off completely off from where the dotted marks on the pulley where tdc one is) and voila with the cams at 10 and 12 oclock the 2 dark spots lined up. I then figured out the CAS needed to be stabbed right and it lined up perfectly and had equal adjustment on both sides and the cams lined up perfectly with the chain so I thought all was good even though it wasn't at tdc. So it starts up perfect and idles good but backfired a little more then it used to.

Then it seemed slower than I remember it the year before but I thought I might just be more used to it, the boost lag was also horrendous not reaching full boost until around 5k on a 2871r and when I pulled the plugs a couple times they were really white as if it were running lean which I couldn't understand because it ran rich and backfired quite a bit and definitely went through gas. I ignored that and thought it ran fine, just thinking it had a boost leak somewhere.

So I'm thinking the chain was originally timed right because the marks I made were good, just the CAS wasn't timed right so it wouldn't stay running then when I changed it, it wasn't timed properly but managed to run. Now I'm wondering does this seem correct and that I should change it back before it comes out of storage and is it even possible for it to run as well as it did with it being off an entire tooth??

Any insight is appreciated.

ShadowMan · 01-08-2013, 11:24 PM

Assuming this is an sr because you never stated, but I would start over man. Pull the crank pulley then the timing cover/oil pump. Set the timing chain correctly, stab the CAS, put the cover/oil pump back on and be done with it. In my opinion, it's the only real way to be sure. May not be the answer you were hoping for but at least you will stop wasting time guessing. Good luck.

Jersthecool · 01-09-2013, 12:01 AM

Yeah I'm definitely gonna re-time everything without pulling the oil pump off, it's easy enough now with the knowledge I currently have, I'm just not gonna be able to do it for another 4 months or so until winter is over so until then just looking for opinions on what people think.

Croustibat · 01-09-2013, 02:22 AM

Doing it in 4 months means not driving it for 4 months too (unless you want to risk something)

ForeignMuscle · 01-09-2013, 05:48 AM

Did you ever think to hook up a timing light?? The adjustment of your cas could be all that is needed.

Jersthecool · 01-09-2013, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croustibat

Doing it in 4 months means not driving it for 4 months too (unless you want to risk something)

Yeah I'm saying I can't drive it anyways for 4 months it's in a garage for the winter until all the salt/snow/rocks are gone.

No I never did try a timing light because for some reason I was thinking it wouldn't show correctly because the chain was off. Yeah I should probably just check it that way before I pull everything apart again.

01-08-2013, 06:08 PM	#1
Jersthecool Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 342 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Timing gurus chime in! So when I did my headgasket I obviously had to do my timing. When we pulled the head off I didn't know there was darker spots so I just colored the spots on the chain that the 2 holes on the cams sat on. When reassembling it I put it on exactly the same way making sure the crank was at tdc and the 2 sharpied in dots line up exactly with the cams. The car ran perfect before so putting it back exactly the same it had to be right. However when installing the CAS I didn't know it had to be stabbed in a certain way so that you have adjustment on both sides, I thought as long at the dots lined up it was good. So down the road when I finally try to start it, it would start and idle for about 2 seconds and die and smelled like heavy gas, so I pulled the cover off and "re-did" the timing. I then realized there were 2 dark chain links and 1 yellow one so I instantly thought to follow those and after rotating the crank 100 times they never lined up the closest they would get was 1 link off. That was when I determined the chain was off the crank one link. So stupid me, being frustrated, and super tired working at 2 in the morning trying to get it working thought for some reason "the chain had to be right and needed to match up or it wouldn't work". So for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to rotate the crank clockwise a bit (it's now off completely off from where the dotted marks on the pulley where tdc one is) and voila with the cams at 10 and 12 oclock the 2 dark spots lined up. I then figured out the CAS needed to be stabbed right and it lined up perfectly and had equal adjustment on both sides and the cams lined up perfectly with the chain so I thought all was good even though it wasn't at tdc. So it starts up perfect and idles good but backfired a little more then it used to. Then it seemed slower than I remember it the year before but I thought I might just be more used to it, the boost lag was also horrendous not reaching full boost until around 5k on a 2871r and when I pulled the plugs a couple times they were really white as if it were running lean which I couldn't understand because it ran rich and backfired quite a bit and definitely went through gas. I ignored that and thought it ran fine, just thinking it had a boost leak somewhere. So I'm thinking the chain was originally timed right because the marks I made were good, just the CAS wasn't timed right so it wouldn't stay running then when I changed it, it wasn't timed properly but managed to run. Now I'm wondering does this seem correct and that I should change it back before it comes out of storage and is it even possible for it to run as well as it did with it being off an entire tooth?? Any insight is appreciated.

01-08-2013, 11:24 PM	#2
ShadowMan Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: oceanside, CA. Posts: 538 Trader Rating: (4) Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Assuming this is an sr because you never stated, but I would start over man. Pull the crank pulley then the timing cover/oil pump. Set the timing chain correctly, stab the CAS, put the cover/oil pump back on and be done with it. In my opinion, it's the only real way to be sure. May not be the answer you were hoping for but at least you will stop wasting time guessing. Good luck. __________________ in any situation....thou shalt blaze

01-09-2013, 12:01 AM	#3
Jersthecool Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 342 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Yeah I'm definitely gonna re-time everything without pulling the oil pump off, it's easy enough now with the knowledge I currently have, I'm just not gonna be able to do it for another 4 months or so until winter is over so until then just looking for opinions on what people think.

01-09-2013, 02:22 AM	#4
Croustibat Nissanaholic! Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: France - Toulouse Age: 44 Posts: 1,851 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Doing it in 4 months means not driving it for 4 months too (unless you want to risk something)

01-09-2013, 05:48 AM	#5
ForeignMuscle Zilvia Addict Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ya momma's house Posts: 860 Trader Rating: (16) Feedback Score: 16 reviews	Did you ever think to hook up a timing light?? The adjustment of your cas could be all that is needed.