Set timing for ford 3600

[stevebb1]

Hi and thank you for your time.

This is for a diesel.

I tried searching and found some threads that touched on setting the timing but I haven't found anything that walks me through it from start to finish.

A few months ago I replaced the fuel pump and the tractor has been hard to start / putting out smoke that I have concluded is due to the timing having not been set right when i put in the fuel pump. Also it is using fuel much faster than I have ever seen a ford tractor use it up. (grew up on and still live on a sod farm where we used ford tractors almost exclusively).

I tried hiring out this job only to end up a few hundred bucks lighter so discouraged with hiring a mechanic I decided to do it myself and did have better luck than when i hired the "mechanic" but its become obvious to me that I didn't get the timing right.

if there is a thread here covering this about the 3600, please point me to it because I imagine this has been discussed but I'm just not finding it.

thanks again

Steve

 

[thepumpguysc]

IF you have a CAV DPA pump its very easy.. AS LONG AS THE GEAR STAYED MESHED.. its awful hard to un mesh the gears but it is do-able if you tried hard enough..
The front of the pump has a MASTER spline/slot.. the gear has a dowel pin & 3 bolt holes.. The 3 bolts wont start if the dowel isn't in the spline/ slot in the pump..
There is a timing line on the corner of the pump mounting flange.. THAT LINE lines up w/ degree marks stamped in the block..
They go from 0-20 left & 0-20 right.. Put the PUMP LINE on the "0".. & tighten down the pump.. doesn't get any easier than that..
Good luck & let us know.. TPG

 

[stevebb1]

=The 3 bolts wont start if the dowel isn't in the spline/ slot in the pump

Thanks again for your reply. I haven't torn it open yet because it sounds like it won't go back together unless it is correctly aligned. If that is the case then it must be correct since it did go back together and I need to consider the problem is in another area.

The tractor runs but is hard to start, impossible without either, and seems to use too much diesel based on my experience with other tractors of the same sort. It has a lot of greyish -white smoke (at least at times, not so much when its being worked but definitely when it is sitting).

As such I thought the smoke was probably from getting fuel into the exhaust.

If you tell me I could have put it back together wrong and it would still start and run enough to cause the symptoms I have mentioned then I will def take it back apart but if not could you give me an idea of where else to point my attention that might cause the trouble?

 

[thepumpguysc]

Steve,, did you find the timing lines on the pump & block?? THATS your fine tune adjustment.. there is about 10* of play on that pump.. you gotta make sure your in the right ballpark..
Start w/ 0*.. if theres no improvement, move the pump 1 LINE towards the OUTSIDE of the tractor.. [to the right] & try THAT..
one or the other should get you cleared up.. if not, you might have engine problems..
I've seen WONDERFUL THINGS happen after resetting the valves on those old Fords..!!!

 

[stevebb1]

Steve,, did you find the timing lines on the pump & block?? THATS your fine tune adjustment.. there is about 10* of play on that pump.. you gotta make sure your in the right ballpark..
Start w/ 0*.. if theres no improvement, move the pump 1 LINE towards the OUTSIDE of the tractor.. [to the right] & try THAT..
one or the other should get you cleared up.. if not, you might have engine problems..
I've seen WONDERFUL THINGS happen after resetting the valves on those old Fords..!!!

Hi, 1st thank you for coming in and replying to my post. 2nd, sorry to have been so long but to quote Clint Eastwood from "Joe Kidd" ... I've more time than money. So I stumbled through the circumstance and wish I could offer some insight to those that will go after me but I did it so back asswards that I'd probably be more harm than help.

I will say you will notice on where the pump bolts on to the tractor that there is an extra bit of space on the pump where the bolts go in which allows you to twist the pump ever so slightly. Before you do anything else you might try adjusting the pump to a different alignment than where it is currently because even though it is a very slight amount of room for adjustment ... it made a considerable difference in my case.

The three bolts which hold the pump onto the tractor ... one of them is really hard to work with. It is possible (especially if worked on before) that the pump worked itself into a position which is not where you want it to be because it was not tight enough to hold the pump in place, and simply adjusting the pump and then re-tightening the bolts will do the trick for you.

Sadly I was way past that by the time I realized the above, but maybe it'll save somebody else.

Oh, and the "0" (zero) mark you may be trying to find will possibly be on the upper section of the window you look through.

Anything else i offer might be way off, so I'll shut up and wish you luck from here.

I don't know for sure if I have the correct timing but I do know my tractor is running a lot better and thankfully is back to using the amount of fuel which I was used to going through and not the increased amount I was enduring before taking on this little task.

Cheers!