There is a picture in a manual showing a finger pressing the timing pin. Is this supposed to be a joke? I can't get any part of my body anywhere near the pin. Am I supposed to take everything off the left side of the engine? I'm supposed to press this pin on the left side of the engine while turning the barring tool on the right side of the engine? How many people need to be involved in this process?

I'm just trying to find TDC so I can check my timing for the first time. I know it has been discussed a billion times on all the forums. I just can't seem to get my head around any of the methods. I figured at least with the pin you know you are on the compression stroke. Yeah, right. I can see the pin if I lay under the truck.

I think I'll go back out to the shop tomorrow and look at it with a fresh attitude. Right now I want to set the pin on fire. Maybe I shouldn't do that.

 

Good thing you couldn't find the pin, they're usually not right anyway.
Close enough to set the valves but not for timing.
Soon as you get a good permanent mark on your dampener you won't have to worry about anymore.

 

You can do it by yourself but you have to be a contortionist. I have done it by myself with long extensions where I could reach the pin and turn the ratchet at the same time.

 

Same thing here, can only reach it with one finger and it won't budge in or out,tried to use it when adjusting valves , gave up on it real quick , even had the instructions , I thought it said somewhere ya can pull it out and then remove a ring on it or something so it will go back in easy or somthing . Maybe I was doing something wrong lol . I couldn't even get it out.

 

Well the fresh attitude, and a beer, did the trick. I was trying to reach the timing pin while standing at the front of the truck. From the side I was able to reach it and yank it out and find that someone else had already broken the pin off in the gear. But I was able to look in the hole with a mirror and verify that I was on the compression stroke.

I marked the damper after setting TDC with the drop valve method. I have one of those electronic gizmos that allows you to check timing with a timing light. I haven't tried it yet and wanted to see if it works.

I have the full timing kit and want to check/adjust that too. These are all firsts for me, I haven't had the truck very long. I changed the oil and filter today, adjusted the valve lash, and removed the silencer ring.

 

You had better have a pro do it

 

easy to confirm #1 compression, #6 valves are in overlap.

 

Broken pin is common- people forget it's in and start the truck or barr it over and snap it off.
Not that tough to get to really- had to change mine when I bought the truck too from that. Normaly I have someone run the ratchet to bar it while I fight with the pin... I also pull the pin housing until I see the hole for the pin then put it together and find the point.
I think it's easier to get the pin from under the truck...

 

You'll need the correct adhesive timing tape that corresponds to the dampener diameter to see if it works.
Most of the diesel adaptors that connect to a gasser timing light don't come with the tape. Way too many diameters to cover.

 

I have a new timing light. The one I had for 20 or so years was just a standard inductive timing light. It suffered an incident with a spinning alternator pulley and was quickly reduced to its component parts. That was scary.

Anyway, I got a Actron CP7529 digital timing light and it works great. I just tried it on the 12-valve. You point it at the balancer and of course your timing mark is way off. Then you hit the advance buttons on the timing light until your mark lines up. Then read the advance. So cool. Mine reads 11.4. I do believe there is some room for improvement here .

I am going to recheck my TDC, making it as accurate as possible, and check the timing again with the light. Another cool thing about the timing light is the tachometer function. You can switch between rpm's and advance.

Is the drop valve method of finding TDC accurate enough for setting timing?

 

I believe its the only method thats accurate enough. save for a dial indicator in the injector hole. but you'd have to do the same as you would with the valve. find full travel CW and full travel CCW then split the difference for actual TDC.

 

Do you know how far it is from the injector hole to the top of the piston? I'm wondering how long the adapter needs to be on the dial indicator.

How hard is it to pull only the #1 injector? What needs to be removed? It's not likely that it has ever been removed in 180,000 miles. Will it be hard to bust it loose?

 

a couple adapters I made for my 95 12 valve.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=238143

I soaked injector nut with pb blaster and they came right out.

 

I would use the drop valve method over a dial on the piston. With the dial on the piston, you have to have a long extension, you will be at an angle, and you will be measuring in the bowl on a curved surface. On the valve, its straight up and down, flat, and no extensions that will deflect.

 

yea, tates got a good point there.