timming

[Madmerc]

hi guys I am trying to work out the timming I have got tdc  piston 1 up top cam lobes at 10 to 2 I go to put my distributer in and it wont go into the slot . it only goes in if I rotate it180 degrees but the the slot on the shaft does not line up with the marking on the distributer .any help . cheers

[ja17]

You need to pull the gear out of the housing and rotate it until it is indexed correctly. Be careful not to get the injection pump timing out of spec.  You can accidentally get it 180 degrees off while setting up the distributor.

[Madmerc]

hi joe thanks for the info how do I pull it out is it a big job . also I have purchased a 123 electronic distributer for it do I still need to rotate the gear drive. thanks

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi,

You can turn that distributor drive gear with a large flat blade screw driver. It will only turn one way - ccw I think.
It will rise up and then engage with the next tooth. I think there are only 9 teeth on it, so it will change by  40 degrees with each tooth. So you can change by 160 0r 200 degrees whichever is more suitable.
You will have to test fit the 123 distributor to check if the rotor is in the correct position.

naj

[ja17]

I look at the direction and location of the vacuum advance unit on original cars and pictures. Be careful, the 230SL and later pagodas are oriented in different directions. Once you orient the vacuum advance unit in the correct location, the rotor should point to the slash on the distributor rim when the engine is at TDC #1 (compresson stroke.).  Notice that the drive cob on the bottom of the distributor and the slot in the timing gear are slightly off-set to one side and are meant to be installed only one way. Next check to see if the small compression spring is between the distributor cog and timing gear.

[Tomnistuff]

Hi Joe and Naj,

The above two last posts are so clear and concise, they should be in the TM exactly as written, if not already.  I just did all of that a couple of days ago and it worked perfectly.  I think it's clockwise, not ccw, that you twist the big screwdriver to get the distributor drive gear to skip a tooth.  I actually was too far clockwise when I dropped my drive gear in the hole.  It's hard to judge since it twists as it engages the gear in the block.  I had to use the screwdriver and turn the gear eight teeth clockwise to get where I wanted to be - one tooth ccw from where it dropped in.

It's really great to have all you experts who know all the tricks to getting it right.

Thanks much.

Tom Kizer