1977 Jeep Wagoneer Possible Misalignment of Camshaft and Cr

1977 JEEP WAGONEER
200,000 MILES • V8 • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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OLDMANCOYOTE1
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I'm working on a '77 Wagoneer with a 360 V8. The previous owner was not too smart. When I tried to install a new distributor and time it, I found that:

1) With #1 at top of compression stroke,
2) The Harmonic balancer mark was at TDC, and
3) The Distributor rotor pointed at #1 wire

To get the engine to run well I have to adjust the timing so that #1 fires 1 stroke before TDC (i.e.) harmonic balancer mark is 180 degrees before TDS when viewed with a timing light.

What's wrong?
Do I have to rotate the camshaft 90 degrees backwards (CCW) and re-install the timing chain?
Can I leave it like it is and connect the timing light to the wire 2 wires back (CCW)?

I confess that i barely know my way around an engine, and I would be grateful for any help.

oldmancoyote1
Jan 26, 2008 at 4:00 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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If the cam was in 180 out, it wouldnt run. The timing mark will come up twice.Did you remove the plug to verify you were on the compression stroke? sounds like you are 180 out on the distributor
Jan 27, 2008 at 9:25 AM