Timing Probe Fitment Problem

[Booyah45828]

Also, that line has to be near 100% free of rust and paint where the clamp is, or it will act goofy as well. So make sure it is as clean as possible.

 

[hacked89]

The clamp alone is what determines rpm and if it is not clean and if it is on a non linear portion of line it will be messed up. Which is why I asked. A lot of times there’s a slight kink or bend near the injector side.

 

[adamsanders]

So I have tried every comment in this thread. The line is as clean as I can get it and I have moved the clamp around countless time. I’ve tried it right next to the injector and back closer to the pump. I’m beginning to think I received a bad transducer or meter. I wish I could test it. I still cannot get the RPMs to read steady or anything above idle. Here’s one more video of my setup with the ground on the line. I don’t even have the probe hooked up so pay no attention to the timing display.

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[Brian VT]

Damn. Very frustrating, I'm sure.
I don't know what to ask other than how are you powering the meter? I read somewhere here to use a stand-alone battery. So I never tried using my in-truck batteries to power the meter. Maybe that could help you?

 

[gandalf]

Its been a while since I used my meter, but there are a couple things I do remember. I did not power it with a separate battery, but rather with the truck's battery. I had some trouble establishing a good ground. I tried grounding on the injector hard line, but that did not work for me. I ended up grounding on a bolt somewhere close by on the top of the engine. Once I had that good ground the RPMs were pretty steady. I think I placed the clamp on the injector hard line quite close to the injector, after sanding it well.

 

[Brian VT]

I also found the ground to be finicky. I think I used the hex head bolt on the fuel filter head? And I had to wiggle it a bit to make sure it was going through?

 

[adamsanders]

Sadly I moved the ground around more times than I can count. I think I’ll have to contact the seller and see about starting a return. I’m curious if the other fellow in this thread that had similar problems ever got his going.

 

[Brian VT]

I read that tech. support is good. Try them 1st?

 

[hacked89]

Sadly I moved the ground around more times than I can count. I think I’ll have to contact the seller and see about starting a return. I’m curious if the other fellow in this thread that had similar problems ever got his going.

That’s a good idea. I have done exactly what I shared multiple times and it works the first time. Even right now I’m timing.

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[Booyah45828]

Well that's frustrating for sure.

I'm not sure how I would diagnose the unit's issues. I don't think you want to throw parts at it hoping for the best. Maybe someone nearby has one and you can swap pieces to find what's bad. Maybe the ebay seller will swap you units and you can try again?

 

[afree92]

Sadly I moved the ground around more times than I can count. I think I’ll have to contact the seller and see about starting a return. I’m curious if the other fellow in this thread that had similar problems ever got his going.

I've been out of town since I posted last. I get back next week and am going to try and see if i can get it going.

 

[adamsanders]

So a little update on my timing problem. I requested a replacement from the seller and he sent it out no problem. I got to try it out today and the original RPM issue is gone. Definitely a defective transducer or meter. However, I actually got to start timing my truck and I have yet to get anything believable. At idle I’m sitting at 20-21 degrees and at 2000 RPM I’m seeing 18. I moved the probe in and out tons of times. Two questions - is it possible my truck would actually be that advanced? I’ve put about 20k miles on the truck times the way it is. It’s runs pretty good, starts okay, and doesn’t overheat. I’ve pulled boats and campers numerous times during that time. Get about 14-15mpg. Only reason I’m questioning is years ago when I first got the truck and didn’t have much experience with these motors. I tried to mess with the IP gear timing. I did it intentionally because I thought it was out a tooth but looking back the details are fuzzy.

I also notice that the reading is really close to the offset. I have it set to positive 20 degrees on the meter. This is correct right? Not negative 20? I’ve tried it both ways and with the offset at -20 the numbers were like 60 degrees lol. Which makes sense since it’s a 40 degree swing.

Anyways, is there something I could do for a sanity check on this crazy advanced timing?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It is possible. I had mine at over 16* advanced without knowing it. That's because I had never put a meter on it. I thought it was ok too. After being retarded back to 9.5*, it ran quite a bit differently. It didn't have a noticeable gain in power, just how and where in the RPM range it made the power. It was also quieter running and there was less black smoke coming out of the exhaust.
To answer your question if is there anything that you can do, yes. Retard the timing and see what happens.

 

[adamsanders]

I wanted to post an update to this thread and close it out. To recap, I had ordered a Tech Time diesel timing meter off of eBay and had a lot of trouble getting it to read my RPM correctly. I eventually requested a replacement from the seller and got the new unit to read correctly immediately. After I started to actually time my truck I was seeing right at 20 degree BTDC when our truck are supposed to be more like 8-9 degrees. It eventually hit that way back when I first bought my truck, in an attempt to experiment with an old injection pump I had loosed the IP gear housing, lifted the gear out of mesh and reset the gear advanced by one tooth. Eventually I bought a new Mini Moose IP, slapped it on, and proceeded to put about 30k miles on the truck over 5 years. I have pulled campers, boats, car trailers, etc. with this truck at 20 degrees timing. This past weekend I reversed my timing experiment and brought the IP gear back to alignment with the cam gear. Immediately I noticed the engine was quieter and seemed to run smoother. I checked my timing again and I was down to ~13 degrees, still to high. This number makes perfect sense though because each tooth on the IP gear represents about 7 degrees of injection timing. I was able to get another 4 degrees by rotating the IP itself to the driver side. I am sitting at 9.5 degrees and I can't wait to see what kind of MPG I get now. The truck cranks so much faster and engine sounds overall healthier. So to close, I can say firsthand that these trucks will run and perform decently with the IP gear off by a tooth in the advanced direction at least. We'll see if I gain anything from bringing it back down to spec.