I use the light on the instrument cluster as my reference when to start always. Otherwise it does not start correctly. I tested the glow plugs when I had the intake manifold off the engine and they work great.

I aligned the marks visually on the camshaft and crankshaft with the valve cover off to verify the position of the cam lobes. I then rotated the pump to align the mark in the port on the side of the pump itself. I did notice that when the cam marks are dead on, the crank is about 1 degree off. 11 degree ATDC instead of 12.

I ran the car like this and the engine performed much better than before but, the coolant temp climbed a bit higher than before. Occaisionally getting above the 100 degree mark and then coming back down. Previously it never reached any higher than about 95 degrees.

I retarded the IP then and it ran terrible and smoked like mad. I the adjusted the IP again, advancing it, but not as far as before. It is running well when warm and the temp is a little cooler. Still reaching 100 degree when running uphill.

When the engine is cold it has an intermittant misfire as well as a metallic "kink" kind of noise. The kink is what really concerns me. Sounds like metal against metal.

Is there any place to rent the A-B timing light for this engine?

Thank you all for your thoughts,

Eddie E.
87 300 SDL 316K and cruising!
This site gives me peace of mind