base timing

im having a issue my car seems very lazy and has very little power at anything above 2500 rpm i tried checking the timing with a light and can not see any timing marks on the balancer at all to see if im even in the ball park and i come up with nothing using the search button

If you haven't changed anything timing is not your problem, nor can you adjust it using a timing light. You have other issues to address. Start with the basics like fuel and plugs and go from there.

the engine was replaced 50 miles ago the guy drove it around town a little bit after ive fixed a few issues already i dont doubt that things like the timing are possibly off

timing can't be off like you are thinking It is electronically controlled via sensors. I.e. no distributor. If the sensor drive was installed incorrectly it could cause issues, but you should see a check engine light.

Do you have a check engine light? If so, pull the codes and report back what they are.

no light so far if its off a few degrees will it still throw a code ? im just asking i havent delt with a ton of these s/c motors before i know on my sho it would just loose a lot of power if it was slightly off

An SC can and will run without a functioning cam sensor. Like mentioned before if you not getting a check engine light you have another issue.

yea its just seems sluggish to me
the trans is also brand new and the shift points seem very low its in 3rd by 30mph when u leave it in od
it has plenty of torgue but the power seems to fall off quickly after 2500 rpm it makes 10psi of boost no problem
revs strong when in park/neutral but just dont seem like it all there when driving

my first guess would be the coil or the plug(s) / gap

plugs are brand new motorcraft plugs it never missed or hesitates ill have to see how strong the spark is tomorrow with my tester

is there a mark i can look for on the balancer so see if the timing is in the ball park spout in or out ??? im sure theres some way to check and verify that it is correct at idle i just want to rule that out of the equasion right away sincethe guy seemed kinda unsure if the car ran correct of not and i know for a fact that my 92 sho with minor mods would eat this thing for lunch no problem from a stop and that dont seem right to me i know that the sho is 220 hp stock and the sc is 210 but it just seems sluggish to me

Cats plugged up?

thats a possiblity that i havent thought of yet should i do liek the exhaust shops do and pull the o2 sensors and see how it runs to check that

is it possible that the vac line to the regulator is off or misrouted somehow ? would that cause my low power ?

Could be. make sure the reference line is coming off the IC tubing after the blower.

i have 1 line that runs behind the brake system and the other runs to the bypass valve that i can see

Its a short, red(i think), hard platic line only maybe 4" long. Goes from the fuel press regulator to the return plenum.

yea i just checked everything and its on correctly i pulled the spout connector near the firewall the octane plug as some call it and it made a world of difference in it pull harder all the way up to redline from a stop just stabbing it results in tire spin so i think i need to reset the timing i know that knock will cause the car to pull timing and then once it clears it will come back in

after my first pull i did notice that the car would come on and off between 4k and 5k not massivly but i could feel power coming and going i always rum 92 octane in it. and when i pulled in the garage the smell of catalytic convertor was evident. now i think either the coil is starting to go out and cant keep up at high rpm or the cats are shot and once they get warm are causing a restriction at higher rpm

i tried the timing light just for ~~~~~ and grins again and i noticed something odd when i go from number 1 plug to 3 3 flashes intermittantly but 1 flashed nice and even had maybe 3 of 6 do the same thing possibly coil?

or am i just being overly picky and should just put a bigger pulley on it and call it a day ??? lol

boogeyman said:

yea i just checked everything and its on correctly i pulled the spout connector near the firewall the octane plug as some call it and it made a world of difference in it pull harder all the way up to redline from a stop just stabbing it results in tire spin so i think i need to reset the timing i know that knock will cause the car to pull timing and then once it clears it will come back in

after my first pull i did notice that the car would come on and off between 4k and 5k not massivly but i could feel power coming and going i always rum 92 octane in it. and when i pulled in the garage the smell of catalytic convertor was evident. now i think either the coil is starting to go out and cant keep up at high rpm or the cats are shot and once they get warm are causing a restriction at higher rpm

i tried the timing light just for ~~~~~ and grins again and i noticed something odd when i go from number 1 plug to 3 3 flashes intermittantly but 1 flashed nice and even had maybe 3 of 6 do the same thing possibly coil?

or am i just being overly picky and should just put a bigger pulley on it and call it a day ??? lol

Click to expand...

Spout and Octane plug are two differient things and they perform two differnt functions. Pulling the spout stops any advance or retard of the ignition timing and it stays at base timing at all times. I think base timing is 10 degrees of advance. Base timing is not adjustable on these motors.

Removing the octane plug retards timing by something like 4 degrees to allow temporary use of low octane fuel.

David

1) Timing is set by the crank sensor. You cannot have incorrect ignition timing due to an installation error. It's not possible to get this wrong so don't even bother checking it.

2) The plug by the firewall is not the spout connector, it is a timing retard for low octane fuel. If removing this plug makes the engine run better then there is a fuel problem that needs fixing. Do NOT think that just because the motor seems to run better that this is a solution. This is like cutting your foot off to make your hand hurt less.

3) Cam sensor timing (distributor) controls fuel injector timing. If it is not set right you will have AFR problems. This is a very common problem because engine installers do not seem to understand how to set it properly. Use the tool and set it at 26deg ATC compression. Follow the instructions in the manual or as posted here on SCCOA.

4) Do NOT install a pulley while there is an engine operation issue. The pulley will not fix the problem but it will help you find the cause!

5) If you are not getting a misfire issue then most likely it is a fuel delivery problem. Check your cam sensor timing and then check fuel presure under boost. You will need to connect a gauge and then drive the car under full load full throttle through the entire rpm range. Pressure should be about 32psi at idle and 50-52psi at full boost. If pressure falls off at any point during full throttle then you have a fuel pump issue which is also common to these cars. I've had many people lose a motor due to low fuel pressure, replace the motor, and then lose the next one due to the same problem in the first one - insufficient fuel delivery under load.

6) If everything else checks out it could be that your motor is detonating for other unknown reasons. Knock sensor activity will cause a loss of up to 20rwhp. Adding an OD pulley will make this problem worse. Try running better gas or something to significantly increase fuel octane.

thank your very much dave someone has finally adressed what i thought was the problem told me i was wrong and explained WHY
and from the looks of it my sensor at at about 5 degree`s forward of paralell of the crank pulley it should be 30*
the pulley thing was a joke lol i want to get it running up to its potential before any mods are done