Ignition Timing

Okay 1986 Cruisers Elegante twin Crusader 270's with borg warner v drives...

Standing in the boat and facing forward the starboard (right) engine rotates clockwise along with the prop and tranny....the port (left) engine and prop rotates opposite

okay here is my problem, the starboard engine has the timing mark on the flywheel and also the timing degree indicator on the timing chain cover, got timing set correctly on this engine.

on the port engine the timing mark is on the flywheel but the timing degree indicator is missing.

Now if both engines rotated the same direction I could get a pretty good idea by measuring to get an idea where 10 btdc is located.....

But since the port engine rotates opposite wouldn't it essentially flip the sequence of numbers? in other words

starboard 6 atdc 4 atdc 2 atdc TDC 2 btdc 4 btdc 6 btdc
port 6 btdc 4 btdc 2 btdc TDC 2 atdc 4 atdc 6 atdc

any help would be appreciated..

tim

Re: Ignition Timing

Ayuh,.....

It Sounds like your Port motor is Lefthanded,....
That makes it the Same as most BBCs,.... Standard Rotation.....

I'd think a Timing Tab from Any motor shop should be an Easy Installation......

Re: Ignition Timing

alaska_av8r said:

on the port engine the timing mark is on the flywheel but the timing degree indicator is missing.

Now if both engines rotated the same direction I could get a pretty good idea by measuring to get an idea where 10 btdc is located.....

Click to expand...

You have anyhting that you can line up for 0 degrees TDC? If so, just get an advance timing light and setting timing will be easy.

Re: Ignition Timing

Yeah that is the problem, I don't know how to determine 0 tdc without pulling the plug and checking but would that be accurate enough to suffice.....or I could buy another timing chain cover with the timing tab for reference and I guess even cut it off the new one and glue it to the old one, I dont want to have to pull the current one off if I can avoid it.

With that being said though, wouldn't the before tdc marks and after tdc marks be reversed compared to the timing tab on the other engine? since it rotates the other direction?

Re: Ignition Timing

Is the After and Before TDC markes on the same side of TDC on both flywheels? or are they opposite?
Is there a pointer in the opening in the flywheel cover?
I don't have a clue how Crusader marks their engines. Not even sure if the 270 you said it is, is a Ford or a Chevy.
Have you checked with Crusader to see if they have a service manual for these engines. May really be worth the expense (as is any marine engine)

Re: Ignition Timing

Yeah Don I have the Crusader manual but it doesn't help. Both engines have the mark on the harmonic balancer (i think that is what its called) only the starboard engine has the timing scale showing the degrees from TDC....the port engine is missing the scale and rotates opposite the starboard engine.

The only place the timing scale could be mounted on the port engine is essentially the same place it is located on the starboard engine. But it is missing.

I just have a hunch since its rotation in reverse the Btdc and Atdc would be reversed. I just priced a new timing chain cover for this critter at around $65....ugh....