Static timing rotor at 6:30 not 7:00 on 48 DeSoto

[MarcDeSoto]

My rotor looks like it's at 6:30 when the timing damper is at TDC on no. 1 cylinder.  I wonder if that could be contributing to my hard starting problem.  I watched Keith's great video on this subject and he mentioned the major distributor adjustment.  I made a major distributor adjustment some time ago and I think I moved it too far.  I could probaly get the rotor back to 7:00 with another major adjustment?  

 

 

[greg g]

When you saw major adjustment are you talking about the bolt on the bottom of the distributor body?   If you can't get it indexed by loosening that to clock the distributor, set the nearest tower to 7 o'clock and rewire the spark leads with #1 wire in that tower.

 

Are you sure your damper hasn't  slipped?  And TDC is TDC.

[maok]

Yes, confirming #1 being at tdc is important, TDC marks could be out because of the damper, but unlikely imo.

 

Your oil pump is not correctly indexed and hence why your rotor is pointing about 6:30

 

Its not that critical because you can adjust the body of the distributor and hence the cap #1 tower is at 6:30 then tune is normal.

 

[MarcDeSoto]

I don't think I need to adjust the oil pump.  Today, I did another static timing this time following the directions in the manual.  They say to loosen the major adjustment bolt under the distributor.  It was hard trying to tighten that bolt without turning the distributor, but compensated for that with the minor adjustment screw.  The engine started up on the first crank of the engine, so I must have done something right this time.  And I have no starter run on after the engihe starts, since an expert rebuilt the solenoid.  

 

 

[Sam Buchanan]

Don't set the radiator cap on top of the radiator while the engine is running! When it falls off into the fan, damages a couple of fan blades, the fan disintegrates due to imbalance and distributes shrapnel around the shop......you will have a memorable day. 

 

Engine sounds good--might be due to the video audio but sounds like it is idling kinda fast.

[Semmerling]

On 3/26/2023 at 2:25 AM, MarcDeSoto said:

My rotor looks like it's at 6:30 when the timing damper is at TDC on no. 1 cylinder.  I wonder if that could be contributing to my hard starting problem.  I watched Keith's great video on this subject and he mentioned the major distributor adjustment.  I made a major distributor adjustment some time ago and I think I moved it too far.  I could probaly get the rotor back to 7:00 with another major adjustment?  

 

 

 

I really appreciate your videos. Whenever I come across one, regardless of topic, I stop and give it a watch. I know how much time these kind of things take, so thank you.