Camshaft timing, that is.
My '86 2.8 v6 with 80,000 miles runs rough as hell - no power, coughs,
backfires, etc. No ECM code, all I get is a constant stream of "12"s
indicating all is well.
Ignition timing seems okay - sort of. At TDC of the crank, the
distributor rotor DOES point to the wire going to #1 plug, and then 2-3-
4-5-6 are correct, but #1 isn't #1 as stamped on the inside of the dist
cap.
It's almost as if either the timing chain has jumped timing and the
previous owner just moved the plug wires to compensate, or the previous
owner just put the distributor in randomly and called where the rotor
landed as #1. I can tell somebody's had the distributor out because
they've permatexed the old O ring rather than replacing it.
I suspected a jumped timing chain, but I get good compression - 140 to
150 on all 6, not bad for an engine with 80K. Am I correct in assuming
that good compression rules out a jumped timing chain ?
My next step would be to check the camshaft to crankshaft timing. But I
don't want to pull off the harmonic balancer if I don't have to. Is
there another way to check camshaft timing other than looking at the
gear timing mark ? Or does good compression rule out the need to do this
?
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