Hey'all,

I had another thread going where I removed and installed my VE IP to reseal it. The truck ran perfectly until that point.
I locked the engine at TDC, locked the IP at the same time. Then I removed the IP, repaired it, and installed it in the same spot. At no point did I unlock the IP.
After reinstalling the IP, I fired up the truck and it idled and revved perfectly. I finished the detail bit on the engine and tried to start it again. This time it had white smoke and sounded rough. Tried it again a couple of days later, and it barely ran, and had so much white smoke I couldnt see anything around me.
I made the assumption that I had somehow dropped the key for the IP, and that the timing was slipping a bit every time I started the engine.

This morning, I decided to pull out the rad and remove the timing cover to inspect. I removed the timing gear, and confirmed that the key is installed as it should be. I put the gear back on in line with the key, and rotated the engine back to TDC where the lock pin engaged. Now, looking at the timing marks, I can clearly see it is not right. Nowhere in my IP repair could I possibly have changed the timing.

Two questions then:
1) How is it possible for the timing to 'slip'? It started perfectly the first time, and seemed to get worse with each start of the engine. This is concerning.
2) How do I go about correcting this? My thought is to remove the timing gear, and rotate the IP shaft until it allows me to attach the timing gear with the timing marks lined up. I just want to confirm this is correct before I really screw something up.

Appreciate the advice. I am really disappointed I have been off the road for this long.
Thanks very much.

 

Update:
I did some more reading into it, and the consensus seemed to be that since the VE pump is keyed, you really cant screw it up.
So I removed the timing gear, and rotated the engine to TDC. Then I adjusted the timing gear until the timing marks 0 and E were aligned. Then I turned the IP until the key slid in, which was just off the 6:00 position. So in theory this should be perfect base timing.
There is also a paint mark on my IP from where it was before it came off the engine, which is aligned as well.
Unlike before, the truck fired right up, but when I revved it up, it sounds like crap and there is still way too much white smoke. Not too sure what to do now.

Have I missed something? The more I think about it, the more it doesnt make any sense. The timing marks should never have moved since I did the IP pump in the first place. I did not remove the timing cover at the time. So were they always out of whack? I'm not sure there is enough adjustment in the IP itself to advance the timing that much more?

 

Hey- me again.

I went back at it... decided the last thing to try was to bump the timing a bit. I loosed off the IP and attempted to rotate it up. There was tons of travel in the retard direction, but virtually nothing to advance it. I may have claimed back a bit of advance, but hard to tell. Anyways, fired it up and it is actually running really well. Drove a couple miles and it seems to be back to normal.
Though I have seemingly solved the problem, I am still lost as to how the timing could possibly have been out by so much. I do not understand how the timing gear jumps 5 teeth. And the IP was locked when I swapped it, so it's not like the gear could have moved then, since the key slid right in.
Also, I have read a lot about bumping the timing too far to the point of pinging... but IMO, i should be advancing the timing even more, if I could. In hindsight I probably should have advance a tooth while I was in there to give me a bit more adjustment, but should there not still be ample adjustment in the IP in the stock setting?
I would appreciate your thoughts, and some education.
Cheers.

 

Wow. That is a head scratcher for sure.

The crank to cam timing marks were aligned when you pulled the cover?

Could a previous owner mis-aligned the pump gear at some point and it has been that way for some time?

I have had multiple engines apart and I can't see how that pump drive can get out of time, without carnage, while the pump is installed. It can move around with the injection pump removed.

The regressive performance doesn't make sense, any chance there could have been a fueling issue?

 

The white smoke is odd. I advance the pump until it pops when your rev it in neutral when completely warmed up, then back it off a hair. That is my perfect timing every time.