CLARK continental Y91 fork lift cant find the timing ma

[greymond]

this is a 4 cylinder gas 50's engine.
I need to time this thing and I CANNOT for the life of me find the timing marks. No plate on the bell housing and no pointer or numbers on the pulley or anywhere around it.
If any kind soul has any experience with these and tell me where on earth to find anything that will tell me TDC. I can't imagine that plate that is perpendicular to the bell housing under the carb is the plate? I dont want to remove it and a can of worms comes pouring out. Unreal!

al

 

[jm.]

I guess I just am old and have a l lot of experience but you can time that thing in about 5
minutes. Remove the #1 plug put you thumb over the hole and turn the engine until you are certain
the #1 is coming up on compression then take a something and feel in the hole until you have it
right on top dead center. Take the cap off and look where the rotor is pointing. Put the cap on and
put the # 1 wire there then follow the wiring order. It will crank thenm loosen the distributor
hold down and adjust by ear.

 

[greymond]

(quoted from post at 00:50:29 12/30/21) I guess I just am old and have a l lot of experience but you can time that thing in about 5
minutes. Remove the #1 plug put you thumb over the hole and turn the engine until you are certain
the #1 is coming up on compression then take a something and feel in the hole until you have it
right on top dead center. Take the cap off and look where the rotor is pointing. Put the cap on and
put the # 1 wire there then follow the wiring order. It will crank thenm loosen the distributor
hold down and adjust by ear.

Attempted to do that. However, the radiator on this thing does not allow enough clearance to get a socket and ratchet on the crank bolt making it nearly impossible to rotate the engine around. I am at the point I may weld up some kind of attachment to get it to work. Right now I managed to get the motor turned enough to get the rotor pointing at #1 but I don't know how close I am. This thing is not the easiest thing to work on. I'll pull the other plugs to get this thing to spin easier.
I figured if I could see a timing mark I would know I was close and then do what you said by ear to dial it in. I'll probably end up doing exactly what you suggest.

This post was edited by greymond on 12/29/2021 at 04:28 pm.

 

[Jim.ME]

The plate with 2 nuts/studs is likely where a mechanical fuel pump mounted for some applications of that engine. I would be looking for a small cover plate somewhere on the bell housing, as I think the timing marks are on the flywheel.

Was it running before you started working on it or has the distributor been pulled out? If the distributor hasn't been pulled bump it with the starter until the rotor is close to pointing at #1 (stop before it goes by). Pull all 4 plugs out and it is likely you can turn it with the fan, if the belt is tight, to bring it up the rest of the way to TDC on #1.

 

[greymond]

(quoted from post at 01:41:27 12/30/21)
The plate with 2 nuts/studs is likely where a mechanical fuel pump mounted for some applications of that engine. I would be looking for a small cover plate somewhere on the bell housing, as I think the timing marks are on the flywheel.

Was it running before you started working on it or has the distributor been pulled out? If the distributor hasn't been pulled bump it with the starter until the rotor is close to pointing at #1 (stop before it goes by). Pull all 4 plugs out and it is likely you can turn it with the fan, if the belt is tight, to bring it up the rest of the way to TDC on #1.

It was running. The owner tipped it over. He brought it to me to see if I could determine what damage had occurred and if I could get it running.
I cranked it a few times when I got it and the starter was making noise so I pulled that. Starter is bad. I also pulled the carb and rebuilt it. The points were burned and the starter solenoid was shot. I am slowly bringing it back to life. Hopefully it's got some life left

 

[Steve@Advance]

The timing mark is probably a hole in front of the bell housing looking at the front side of the flywheel. Chances are it will be blocked by something, so a wast of time looking for it.

Just pull the plugs, turn the engine by the fan until you feel compression coming up on #1. Keep turning, but don't go past. You will feel the engine get easy to turn when 1 and 4 are at TDC, 2 and 3 will be at BDC. Rock it back and forth a few times to get the feel for it, drop in the distributor with the rotor pointing to #1.

Get it close, it will start. Time it by ear so it sounds good.

 

[504]

Probably not going to work on that flathead but here goes. If you
have a plug for manifold vacuum(carb,manifold) put a vacuum gage
on it and adjust the timing for maximum vacuum,back it down just
a little bit.You are done.

 

[Jcrowl]

You can download a pdf copy of the continental L-head overhaul manual at www.weldmart.com under technical manuals. They have a very good site with a wealth of information and parts. I hope that this helps.

 

[greymond]

(quoted from post at 03:07:51 12/30/21) You can download a pdf copy of the continental L-head overhaul manual at www.weldmart.com under technical manuals. They have a very good site with a wealth of information and parts. I hope that this helps.

I got a copy. I have been using it here and there. A little vague in a sections but overall helpful.

 

[gene bender]

Why worry about timing it was upset that did not change the timing. WITH THE PLUGS OUT AND DIST CAP OFF turn the engine
over and when #1 hits compression then watch where the rotor is pointing

 

[4wdtom]

Determine TDC on compression stroke maybe with something in sparkplug hole. set rotor to point to #1. Start, rotate distributor to where it runs good, vacuum
gauge/method works good as has been mentioned.