Tuning up last night, valves good, timing off by about 6 deg.
Adjusted per usual procedure but pump reaches end of travel before correct setting. That is, when the pump is against the stop, as far as it'll go in the slots that the mouting bolts go through, can only get about 20 deg advance (spec is 24).
Old car, probably >250K miles
1980 300D (non-turbo)
Timing chain stretch well within spec
Be sure you are on the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke. Do you have the arrow pointing near the 25* mark on the balancer or are you setting it at 20 and turning the engine?
If you have it on the compression stroke and the crank arrow pointing at 24* and it still does not have enough adjustment, you will have to remove the pump and reposition the pumps shaft correctly.
Definitely checked timing in compression stroke and each time, would back the crank up far enough to reset everything before proceeding to the 24 deg mark on the dampner/flywheel.
Also, what is the circular ring, mounted on the block and protruding out over the flywheel dampner that is positioned so that the timing mark passes under it before reaching the actual timing pointer further along the block?
Definitely checked timing in compression stroke and each time, would back the crank up far enough to reset everything before proceeding to the 24 deg mark on the dampner/flywheel.
NEVER turn the crank backwards on an engine with a timing chain. Turning the crank counterclockwise introduces slack into the chain and can cause the chain to skip a link (very bad).
I should say, watching timing chain slack closely, I CAREFULLY backed the engine up enough to take up slack in other components and ensure the timing mark reached the pointer with everything tightened up properly. Interestingly, the backlash in the chain was minimal and it never really loosened enough to be of concern.
It should still never be turned backwards for any reason. If you pass your mark, just take it two full turns and try again. When you get close to the timing mark, just turn it very slowly until it's where you want it.
Linear Mode
