Hello All I own a 86 S10 and had to pull distributor to replace pick up.Now Im having trouble with timing. I have pulled the distributor so many times now .I noticed that there are two different makes on flywheel.I believe its the wider mark with white.Whats the other mark for?
I bring it up tdc and line dist. to Number 1 is there a reset i have to do?
I also noticed a sensor on pass side of motor just behind exaust man. The wire has broke off .Would this be a knock sensor?
Please bear with me newbie here ,locksmith by trade part time mechanic not by choice but neccessity
Thanks chuck

 

Is it sparking at least, just not at the right time. And is it at TDC on the compression stroke? You can stick your finger on the spark plug hole and feel for it to be on the compression stroke.

 

Yes i do have spark,and i am bringing it up to tdc ,Am i correct to think if im on mark on flywheel and piston is up on number one all i need to do is drop dist. in lined up with number one.i can get to run by wont idle .Thanks chuck

 

Yeah thats how you line the base timing up. You should also use a timing light to fine tune. You fine tune the timing by rotating the distributor while its running. You will also have to have all your vacuum lines hooked up to have it idle properly. Is your dist a vacumm advance???

 

Yes, that is the knock sensor between the engine mount and the starter.

I am going to ***-u-me your 2.8 is the LL2 'R' vin code. With this assumption, I will give you information for the 86 2.8 based on my knowledge and experience with my 86 2.8 S-10 pickup. The 'flywheel' you are referring to is actually the harmonic balancer. There are three slots on the harmonic balancer. The widest slot on the harmonic balancer is for cylinders 1 and 4. The other two slots are, in order, for cylinders 2 and 5, then 3 and 6, respectively. These three different pairs of cylinders reciprocate in time. In other words up and down at the same time, but they are 2 cycles apart. When one cylinder is on the compression stroke, the other will be on the exhaust stroke and vice versa.

Just for clarification, the front of the engine is toward the radiator, like wise the rear of the engine is toward the firewall and 12 o'clock position of the distributor is toward the firewall as well. Passenger side cylinder bank from front to back is cylinders 1, 3, and 5. Driver side cylinder bank from front to back is cylinders 2, 4, and 6. Viewing the engine from the radiator looking toward the firewall, the engine rotates clockwise. Viewed from above, the distributor also rotates clockwise. Without cracking the engine open to look at the valve train, the only way to know if piston 1 is going up on the compression stroke vs. exhaust stroke or down on the combustion stroke vs. intake stroke is to plug the sparkplug hole with your finger while turning the crank clockwise to feel for air pressure, if you feel suction, you went too far. The next best way to check for Top Dead Center is to pop the valve cover and look at the rocker arms. If the exhaust valve is open on the way up or intake valve is open on the way down, the crank shaft needs one more revolution.

Any way, assuming you have now found true Top Dead Center, drop the distributor so that the rotor points at 6 o'clock (front of engine). This next tip is EXTREMELY important, there is a hex shaped rod approximately 8 inches long that MUST be connected between the bottom of the distributor and the top of the OIL PUMP. Use a flash light to make sure this rod is in the oil pump. If you can't find this rod, best case scenario it came out with the distributor, worse case scenario it is in the oil pan, WORST case scenario, the engine blows up in 30 seconds from lack of oil. Firing order is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, clock wise starting from the 6 o'clock tower on the cap. The wires entering the side of the distributor should be in approximately the 9 o'clock position. Timing should be set at 10* Before Top Dead Center. On the degrees indicator, the deep clockwise most 'V' notch is 0*. The first point counterclockwise from 0* is 4* BTDC. Each 'V' and point counterclockwise thereafter is an additional 2* each. Set the timing to the second small 'V' notch counterclockwise from 0*.