Distributor Advance Interference with Wiring Harness Bracket

[allyolds68]

I've got a 97 Sea Ray 210 with a 5.7 Mercruiser with about 300 hours. it's a non-vortec, carbureted motor. Engine Serial # 0K026581. I purchased this boat about a month ago and spent a lot of time going over it before purchasing it because the previous owner told me it fell flat over 3000 rpm's. I was confident that whatever the problem was I could fix it. It has good compression (150 psi on all cylinders). I changed wires. distributor cap & plugs. When I pulled the old coil wire there was substantial corrosion in the coil plug (the coil mounts vertically and moisture can get trapped in it). I thought that may have been the reason it wasn't running well over 3000 rpms and indeed, the first few times we went out it seemed to run very well. One thing it seemed to be doing was sucking a tremendous amount of fuel. A couple times while tubing the engine dieseled after turning it off to let a rider in or out of the boat. I caulked it up to turning if off too fast and not allowing it to cool. Last weekend it started to really run like crap and had no power over 3000 rpms. I pulled a couple plugs and they were BLACK. My first thought was because I knew the previous owner had run ethanol pump gas in it, the carb probably needed to be rebuilt. I did a rebuild on it and other than having the float set too low I really didn't find anything wrong with it. After reinstalling the carb today I checked the timing (purple wire with white stripe grounded). The timing appeared to be set at ZERO (TDC). The timing for this motor, according to the air cleaner, is 10 degrees. I loosened the hold down bolt and tried to rotate the distributer to advance it but there's a bracket on the back side of the distributor that hits the bracket for the engine wiring harness and doesn't allow the distributor to rotate to any more than about 1 degree. All these brackets look factory. I can't believe this boat has been running since 97 like this. I don't think the balancer has spun because the motor only has 300 hours on it. I disconnected the wiring harness bracket, advanced the timing to 10 degrees, and it seems to run great now. I'm uncomfortable that I'm lining up with the correct mark on the timing cover. I've circled what I think is the timing cover mark below. The second picture below that is hard to make out but it's the conflict between the brackets

 

[allyolds68]

Anyone? Is that the timing mark on the cover? My balancer is marked up to 12 degrees so there's no timing tab like earlier motors that I've had.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,...... That's the timin' marks alright,.....

Ya might get the adjustability ya need by pullin' the distributor, 'n backin' it up, or advancin' it one tooth,....

 

[allyolds68]

Thanks for the response. That makes sense that someone put in the distributor off one tooth.

Will I do any damage to it by advancing it the way I've done it? (Moving the brackets). I'd rather not pull the distributor.

 

[Bondo]

Thanks for the response. That makes sense that someone put in the distributor off one tooth.

Will I do any damage to it by advancing it the way I've done it? (Moving the brackets). I'd rather not pull the distributor.

Donno, but I'd rather do things Right, rather than just what might work,.....

 

[allyolds68]

Donno, but I'd rather do things Right, rather than just what might work,.....

I totally agree but it was a PIA the remove enough seats and panels to get good access and I was planning on taking it out today and the timing is set correctly (albeit halfassed) now.

It's a project I'll tackle during the week when I have an hour or two after work.

I assume if I couldn't turn the distributor counter clockwise far enough that I need to move the shaft clockwise one tooth, correct?

 

[Bondo]

I assume if I couldn't turn the distributor counter clockwise far enough that I need to move the shaft clockwise one tooth, correct?

Ayuh,..... That's how it oughta work,.....

 

[flipbro]

The rubber around your harmonic balancer looks a little rough. Its possible your timed rite but the center of balancer has spun a bit

 

[allyolds68]

The rubber around your harmonic balancer looks a little rough. Its possible your timed rite but the center of balancer has spun a bit

Are there any alignment marks on these balancers to see if this happened?

 

[stonyloam]

Are you sure that the #1 plug wire is in the #1 contact on the distributor cap? If the wires were offset by 1 contact it would change the timing by 45 degrees on a V8. On my (4 cyl) there is a little star marking #1.

 

[gm280]

If you have any doubts about the harmonic balancer moving or slipping, Just bring up number one cylinder to TDC and see where the harmonic balancer is set to. If it isn't very close to the marks, then something is really wrong. Because static timing should be on the mark. Ignition timing will be off from the mark do to the distributor and how advance or retarded it is set...

 

[allyolds68]

I did all of the above. #1 cylinder appears to be at TDC at the correct time. The weather was looking questionable today so moved the timing gear one tooth and re-timed it and it appears to be better. I hope to take it out this evening to get a good run in. I threw a can of Sea Foam in the tank and hopefully I can clean some of the carbon out of it.

 

[NHGuy]

I think you are on a good track. Would be interested to hear how the spark plugs look after running with the timing back where it should be,