Can't set distributor timing?

[Mysterio]

I'm in the process of getting my 87 charger running again. It's been a long process and it will actually run and idle right now. In the process of attempting to get everything setup properly I went to set the distributor timing and make sure it was where it should be. Nothing doing. When I turn on the timing light the timing mark on the flywheel is sometimes gone, sometimes there, bounces around from anywhere from 0-12 whenever it randomly becomes visible. This is with the car warm, coolant sensor plugged in or disconnected as well as when the car was cold with the coolant sensor disconnected or plugged in. Currently the car is throwing codes for the o2 sensor, coolant sensor (Idk if it throws that code when you unplug it?), and Auto shutdown relay. Power loss light is on.

I also don't know if this has any correlation but I took it down the road and the car wouldn't build any boost. It was acting like the charge piping was disconnected but it's all connected and it will idle/run fine. It's idling a bit high but once it warmed up it seemed to even out and idle normally. If I give the gas a quick blip it will rev up fine then seems to drop back down to idle slower than it should but maybe that's just my imagination because I haven't had the car running in a while.

I'm running a roller cam with a square tooth gear but I have an adjustable cam gear on there. Not sure if that has any relevance to the situation or not. I have a lot of work done to the top end of the motor while rebuilding it but I don't think any of it has any relevance to the distributor timing issue.


On a side note, the turbo I put on there since the rebuild was a new to me used unit and it will spin when I rev it up but at idle the turbine isn't spinning at all or barely spinning. Is that normal?

[Keito]

Roller cam with square tooth gear, you need to advance the cam 4 degrees
I was in the same boat, sounds like the IC pipes are leaking

[Mysterio]

We did advance it when you guys came over and helped me remember? I haven't had much time to mess with it since then but I'm back at it and trying to get ti all together. I took it down the road earlier today and it built no boost, and I can't set the timing as well as other odds and ends problems. Just trying to figure them out one at a time and I felt like the timing jumping around on the flywheel was a pretty big deal. I'm pretty sure there's no intercooler pipe leaks but I will definitely double check everything.

[zin]

If the timing mark seems to be "jumping around" and you have the coolant sensor unplugged, you may have a problem in the distributor.

The metal "shutter window" (if that's the correct term) is held in place by plastic "melt rivets", which can loosen up and cause the timing to "scatter". Which is one of the ways the computer controls idle speed, dropping timing to lower it, and upping it to raise the idle speed. This is why the coolant sensor has to be disconnected, otherwise the timing will jump around.

Anyways, I'd pop the cap and pull the HEP to see it is still secure or if it's movable. If it moves, you can sometimes secure it by heating up a big screw driver and re-melting the rivets a bit.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[Keito]

No, when my timing was retarded it made the boost
Sound weird
It sounded like I had a boost leak
I think your setup was fine
Remember it looked like the oil pump gear was off
making the dist. twisted to make it run

[GLHS60]

Have you checked to see if the waste gate actuator is O.K. and connected? I've see many with the clip missing
resulting in very little boost, especially at low speed.

Thanks
Randy

[Mysterio]

No, when my timing was retarded it made the boost
Sound weird
It sounded like I had a boost leak
I think your setup was fine
Remember it looked like the oil pump gear was off
making the dist. twisted to make it run

I'm just trying to fix all the problems so I can narrow things down because of the numerous random small issues IDK what is cause and effect and what are singled out problems ya know. I need to go over all the vacuum lines and the charge piping but I feel like everything is good. If I unplug a vacuum line and cause a leak it affects it running. A quick look through and all the charge piping is connected and tightened down, not to say there's not a hole in a silicone coupler that I'm missing but it looks fine.

[turismolover22]

If everything looks solid mechanically (cam, crank, and dizzy set at 0) I would second the distributor suggestion. I had that same aha moment myself.

[raccoon]

Plus three to the shutter wheel being loose.

[Keito]

Def. check out the distributor, we had a heck of a time trying to time it and I don't think we ever got it right.