No reading on the DTI 3300s

[Ronw435]

My truck is a 1986 Ford F250 with a NA 6.9.


Well I pulled the trigger and bought a DTI 3300s from Ebay. 250.00 with shipping. Unit looks brand new. All cables look brand new.
I got the 20 degree hole cleaned out after about an hour.....what a PITA. The probe goes all the way down and I pulled it back about a business card thickness. The unit blinks until it finds itself. The RPMs remain pretty solid +/- 50 rpms. The problem I am having is I set the offset to +20 and that is all it reads out after blinking is the same +20 degrees. Raising the throttle to 2000 rpms changes nothing at all, still the same +20.

Am I missing something?

Thanks
Ron

 

[Brian VT]

Bad connection at injector line?

 

[gandalf]

I'd agree, one of your connections isn't good. Try to get the probe even closer than a business card thickness. Sand the paint off the injection line well. Finally, be sure to have a good ground. Both the injection line clamp and the ground can be tricky. I finally grounded on a bolt on the engine.

 

[chicken bones]

I had the same problem , but it read - 20. Be sure to power the unit before you plug in Probe . ( read the fine print ) says you can damage the probe if you dont ? I would put the trigger point on low. Never did get my to work so I bought the Timing Light, much easier . Make sure the grove on the Harmonic balancer is clean as well. If your RPM is ready properly , your ground & Pieso Clamp are on correctly.I think these Probe is very tricky to get set right, good luck.

 

[Ronw435]

Ok I went out after lunch and took another look. The degrees is set at 20 ATDC. When I started the truck it now shows -20 degrees. I followed the instructions to the letter. I have the probe now at about .015 from the harmonic balancer. Trigger is on low. I cleaned the fuel line till it was shiny. I cleaned out the groove good. The rpms are now reading steady. I grounded the pieso clamp on the bolt by the line at the intake.
Is it possible to have the timing be -20 degrees off and still start and run good?

Thanks for the replies.

Ron

 

[Brian VT]

I've read here that most get their light straight from DTI.

Timing Equipment | Design Technology, Inc., Home of Tiny-Tach

High quality timing equipment.

www.tinytach.com

 

[Big Bart]

Ronw,

The timing probes are challenging to get working. I would try 4 business cards, 3 business cards, and 2 business cards between the probe end and the damper.(Thicknesses.) Some found going further worked not getting closer to the damper.

Now let’s review a couple things others did wrong just in case.

1) There are two tubes on your timing tab. One to the left and one to the right. Use the one on the right. That you put the probe plug in the probe port not the timing light port.
2) That you moved the switch from “offset” to “probe” setting when testing the timing.
3) -20 usually means that the probe is not plugged into the machine correctly or it’s not registering. Flashing timing screen means it is trying to lock, just wait till it is done flashing, then rev to 2000 rpm and check the timing.
4) Call DTI for help if the above does not work. See if they have any advice.
5) Their timing light for the meter however is the better route.
6) Never change the IP timing when running. Never start the engine with the IP loose.

 

[chicken bones]

No,your not - 20 deg. Its mentions if your probe is not connected properly it will read -20 . You still have no probe function, had same issue when I did get it to read something it jumped all over map. Gave up on the Probe bought there light. The Light has an advance so you set it to 8.5 deg , if the marks arnt lining up you adjust the advance until there are , then you know just how much your off. The Light is so much better .

 

[Jesus Freak]

When you get yours right, hop on I10 and head east for about 1200 miles and you can help me set the timing on mine. Just kidding, great job! I'm totally jealous though.

 

[Oldred]

I have had the bluepoint adapter for years. I just got around to ordering a bluepoint adjustable timing light today. Gonna find out how far off I timed my pump by ear next weekend.

 

[Ronw435]

Thanks guys I am going to try one more time and then if it doesnt work i am going to buy the timing light.

 

[Big Bart]

Here is a thought, these might be surplus because the FED’s got a batch of ones with bad damper probes.

Either way the timing light makes the job much simpler.

 

[Big Bart]

Here is a thought, these might be surplus because the FED got a batch of ones with bad damper probes.

Either way the timing light makes the job much simpler.

 

[gandalf]

Surplus? Maybe. OTOH, I bought mine on EBAY and it works quite well with the probe. The initial setup took a little time, but it works well.

 

[Ronw435]

Gandalf how far away did you set your magnetic probe? I have tried it very close to the balancer with no results. I saw that someone said they put it more than 4 card lengths away and it worked???