Chevy 350 timing mark location

[bobdonaghy01]

Sent: 5/4/2004 

I have looked high and low for the timing marks on my engine. Can't find them anywhere. Any ideas?

1982 Winnebago Warrior
Chevy 350

I dialed the timing in by feel and how it starts and runs down the highway. Easy to do with the doghouse off. Runs great, no pinging under hard acceleration and starts like it was fuel injected.
The book says 6 degrees bdc initial timing but I cant find the marks anywhere.

[77surveyor]

Sent: 5/5/2004

there should be a tab on the timing cover and marks on the harmonic balancer or vise versa .. if you dont see the tab on the cover they can be purchased from most auto parts stores or speed shop mostly in chrome   richard

[Jhoffa]

Sent: 5/5/2004

Ditto on the above "Tab on the timing cover" comment.

You will need a timing light to adjust the initial timing using the mark.

Honestly though, if you're comfortable experimenting, the ideal initial timing is advanced as far as you can without getting into detonation.

I used to advance it till it pinged and back it off a couple of degrees. That best spot for both fuel mileage and throttle response.

Also worthy of note: you will find that the quality of your fuel will dictate how much initial advance you can run. Higher octane fuel = more advance before you run into detonation.

BTW: Don't ignore the detonation ping, it will (eventually) either hammer a hole in the top of a cast piston or break the ring lands off a forged piston. Set the timing correctly the first time for the fuel you plan to run regularly in the vehicle.

The biggest mistake people make here is to fill it up with Premium, tune it up and optimize the timing, then drop back to low grade fuel.

"Hope this helps"

[Froggy1936]

November 25, 2008

The timing mark tab is at the 12- O - clock position (viewed from the front). The problem is that you can not see it (buried).  If you have the water pump off you will see it.

I made a mark on the frt pulley at the  very bottom with no 1 at TDC,  tho you have no pointer you can guess at advance with a light, for a preliminary setting, then advance till it pings under acceleration, and back it off till it stops pinging. (make shure you use the grade of fuel you will be using) This requires driving with the doghouse off (class C) Frank

[GulfCoastFighter0]

I agree, if you know what to listen for and it runs like you want it, don't worry about the marks,  They are simply a starting point and do not account for wear on the timing components and other factors.  My '95 Z71 calls for the timing to be set at TDC, but it won't even run there!

[RV Mech Tech]

bobdonaghy01 - concerning the location of your timing marks on you engine, RV's are a unique appllication and differ in many ways compared to standard truck and car applications and timing marks are no exception - since the front of most engines in RV applications  cannot even be seen from the top the engine manufactures move the location of the timing tab to somewhere towards the bottom of the engine (in most applications) and use a different cylinder for timing- for example - most Chev big block engines will have the timing tab located at the 5 or 6: oclock position (veiwed from the front of the RV if you are standaing in front of it) and will use # 8 or # 4 cylinder for reference to hook up the timing light-  most class C RV's still had it on top but many older class A RV's had the tabs underneath -take a look to see if thats the location of your marks - if the tab is located at close to the 12:0clock position then cyl.# 1 will be used for timing- if its at between the 4 to 6:oclock position then usually cylinders # 8 or 4 will be used - the firing order on a Chev engine is  18436572 - so if the tab is moved then another cylinder must be used-  you can locate the ignition wires by looking at the intake manifold runners close to where they are bolted to the cylinder heads - the cylinder number will be cast into the manifold or you can use any tune-up reference website on the ineternet for reference for this -  also as other members have said timing specifications do not compensate for wear and tear in engine components and you also have to include wear in the distributor as well so a complete check of all engine parts related to the timing of the engine (static and dynamic timing) is necessary for any older RV with an appreciable amount of mileage on it- and in a lot of cases I have also "road timed" the engine by sound and feel after making sure everything else was working o.k. .