Finding Top Dead Center

Am I crazy or just nearly blind but shouldn't there be a marker on the crank pulley and the water pump to indicate top dead center? I'm resetting the timing on my 50' Ford as part of a general tune up...

 

There should be a "notch" in the front pulley... and a pointer.

 

Same thing I told you on your other thread.
Piston stop test and mark it yourself.
What's it 4 weeks now

 

Stick your thumb OVER the #1 cylinder spark plug hole. Rotate the engine until you feel pressure on your thumb. That's the compression stroke. TDC is at the top of this stroke you can use a stick like a chop stick or a kabob stick to see the movement of the piston and see when it starts to travel back down. dont bind it or break it you will be pissed.

 

Is this a flathead??

 

I wish I could "like" this comment..

 

Ya well maybe less smart ass comments and more help and I could stop asking dumb questions but thanks for the support.

 

Smart ass? Dude seriously he gave you about the best answer you could ask for, and the only way to truly be sure that you do indeed have TDC. If you call that smart ass you have a serious problem in your brain. Go ahead and ignore someone who gave you about the best answer you could hope for and keep starting new threads. We'll keep laughing...

 

Sorry orlando, but this is a funny question. Yes Ford, GM, Chrysler should put mojo marks on the engine to help us out, but in the long run it may be better for us to learn how to detemine the top of the compression stroke on our own...

 

Or if you are by yourself, stuff a rag in the sparkplug hole and turn the pulley by hand until it pops. Then when you find it, don't forget to Mark it with a sharpie or whiteout for next time.

 

Buy a used Motors Manual, or Chiltons with the year range that covers your car. They were published every year and one book usually spans at least 7 years, so get one that covers that year. Maybe 20 bucks, and you will use it all the time.

 

If you had the mark, do you realize it would only indicate TDC every other revolution?

 

That wasn't smart ass, that was reality. And I told you the exact same thing last week.
Did you bother to Google it ?

I know you are a rookie and I really tried to help you.
Not degrade, not belligerent, not to mock.

But mother fucker .....
When someone gives you sound advice and you don't bother to look it up is one thing, maybe two dumb and lazy.

Now I really don't think you could pour piss out of a boot after i told you the instructions were written on the heal.




These finger, rag guys probably have no idea of how many crank degrees the piston dwells at TDC.

GFY.

 

wow, you need to rethink that. a factory mark is never close enough for race engines so we allways remark them and tdc is every revolution. btw, 31vicky told orlando the most accurate way to find the real tdc, he should thank him

 

If your dist is wired to book and #1 sparkplug is at 6 oclock your rotor is pointing straight down,you should be very close to see the mark its very small size of BB.

 

Bullshit its tdc 100%
Compression 1/2

 

Actually, thats EXACTLY what he gave you is help. He is absolutely correct, the only way to find tdc is with a degree wheel and a piston stop. Anything else is a half-assed, close enough, maybe, kinda WAG. Seems you just DONT LIKE the right answer.

 

Rethink what? It's a four stroke engine. For the purpose of setting timing TDC needs to be on the compression stroke.

 

yup... definitely laughed out loud...

 

I have to agree with him to a point on this one. If you don't find it on the compression stroke to set the timing it won't really count.

 

What Zman and Adjutable said, TDC refers to the top of the compression stroke.

 

I guess valve events don't mean anything , overlap you know minor shit.

 

I appreciate that, I've been stareing at the front of my engine for the last three days and I'm either missing something or my engine is because I'm genuinely not seeing seeing it.

Ya I'm doing all this work on my own so that might work, it's a fun way to learn on your first project car. Thanks.

 

I am just trying to tell the OP not to rely on the timing mark to locate TDC. TDC exhaust is irrelevent in the context of igniton timing.

 

If you jackup car and get a socket and turn it till you see it, rotor straight down #1 mark.You can,t miss when its in your face.

 

seeing 2 lines of thought, i'm not even going there

 

Ok, ok I know you guys have to be sick of hearing for me and my idiot questions but could someone please confirm this for me. I think this is the notch on the crank pulley for TDC and that this is the indicator for setting it to TDC. Am I correct or am I completely off base with this? Again, I do apprecate you all taking time to walk me threw what I'm sure must be a increadinly simple process for everyone else.


Obviously if this is correct I still need to bump it over a few more notches to hit true TDC.

So that notch needs to be facing straight down is what you're saying?

 

You have the mark and the last picture is the better deg wheel.
Some don,t have that.
When #1 is TDC it will be up top.Wire off dirt and you will see numbers.
IF you have timing light aline the mark with O on wheel.
Stock dist remove vac line.Number #1 with dist cap off rotor should point down and point to #1 sparkplug wire.Some caps are marked#1

 

If you scrape some of the crud off that timing tab, you may find some lines and numbers which would indicate at least zero, probably degrees before TDC and maybe degrees after TDC.

BTW, I am with 31 Vicky on the TDC issue. TDC is ths state of the piston being at the topmost point of its travel in the cylinder bore. You have TDC at compression and TDC at valve overlap. It is TDC regardless.

But to the OP, you have to be aware that there are two different TDC events. If you fire the plug at TDC overlap you get a lot of noise but no power to the wheels.

 

Agreed on all of the above. And it will make it a LOT easier to read with the timing light if you put a little white paint or chalk in the notch.