Ken Gano wrote:
> One of the instructions I've been trying to follow says to park the #1
> cylinder at top dead center of the compression stroke. Short of taking the
> head off, can anyone suggest an easy trick to be sure that's where I am.
If you have a timing mark on the crank pulley and your question is whether
you're on the #1 compression stroke (vs exhaust stroke) then the finger in the
plug hole should work fine. You can also remove the distributor cap and see
whether the rotor is pointing to 1 or 4... assuming you have the distributor
installed. Most reliable visual check is to look at the valves as both intake
and exhaust will be closed on the compression stroke. Easy to do with the
valve cover off but you can also get a pretty good peek at them with just the
oil filler cap removed.
If you don't have or don't trust the timing mark on the crank and your question
is how to know TDC... you can probably insert a screwdriver into an open spark
plug hole as you slowly, gently approach TDC and feel when the piston motion
tops out. This is pretty easy on engine with the plugs directly above the
piston -- I haven't tried it on the TR but the angle may make it difficult to
accurately gauge the moment of TDC.
Geo Hahn
59 TR3A
|