I have a friend with a Ram, and he went to have something fixed by the Dodge dealer(his friend works there). After fixing it,(I think it was a TSB Recall) He asked him if he could advance the timing back, and he said "NO". Something about it being required. Is there really a chance of a problem or is this just Chrysler playing it safe? I'll have to get back to you on the specifics of what the work done was and why, but here's his stats:

365 in.
5.9L
3:55 Gear
OD tranny

Main thing: Does anybody know how to advance the timing back. I think he said it ran much better before with advanced timing. A piggyback controller of some sort?
Thanks in advance,
I'm obviously in the dark too, and I thought I'd try to help out.

 

"advance the timing back"?????? I'm confused?![sm=wtf.gif]

 

Sorry, the timing I believe, was advanced BEFORE he took it in. I think someone at Dodge did it for him. I have tried calling him to get ALL the facts, but his lines' busy.
The conversation originated when we were talking a few weeks ago about an SAFC(super air flow controller) I have for my 3000gt twin turbo. It modifies signals sent to the ecu to fool it into thinking air/fuel values are different from what are actually being read by the sensors. He asked what all engines/ecu's it would work on, and I wasn't sure it would work or help him in his case. Anyhow, we were discussing his timing issue. I think it had something to do with it pulling better with the timing advanced. ????? Dammit, it's been too long for me to remember particulars. I appreciate the reply though. I couldn't imagine you guys didn't have equipment to help out for your individual performance needs on this platform.

 

the aftermarket tunners will change the timing and fuel curves, could it have been programmed with one of them?

 

OK, I got the story straight from him:
The valves were pinging, he took it in to have it looked at. The dodge guy told him that there was a TSB for the Plenum gasket. It was cheap junk from the factory and over torqued, mashing it. It was resulting in oil being sucked back up into the plenum. The dodge guy showed him and he actually saw the inside of the plenum and there was oil in it. So he also checked into the pinging, and said "let's pull the timing a bit and see if that helps". Well, it went away and now, though, it is alot less powerful. He asked the guy to advance the timing up. He, of course, said he couldn't. He was told by someone to do a K&N style intake, dual exhaust and something "turbo" named or somethin like that,(can't remember exactly) and it was right on or under the Throttle Body, and that would fix it. He said it cruises a little better now(probably cause of dual exhaust), but it has less power now and even all that hasn't returned it to what it was before.

I'm a little fuzzy on the order of things, but I think I got all the info out there. I'm sure he's not the only one to have this TSB done. Oh, and it's a '98.

 

oh no... sounds like he got the "death flash" which pulls the timing way back to mask the plenum problem. If there is a plenum leak, why didnt the dealer fix it? that is the cause for his pinging for sure. I think what your also trying to say is to swap out the intake with an M1 intake with a large turtle installed. That would make sense. another fix is to go buy a plenum kit from APS Precision (.com) or Hughs engines and replace the belly pan with the aluminum one from the kit. The problem with the gasket is the steel plenum and the aluminum intake expand and contract during operation at different rates taring the gasket. with the aluminum plenum kit, that problem is solved.

 

Timing cannot be changed on these engines without reprogramming the PCM. It's all done inside the computer. The only thing you can do is change the FUEL SYNC by turning the distributor. When I change a plenum gasket (and also to fix pinging) I also reset the fuel sync to +0 to +1. If your dealer is any good they should do this for you. Later...

 

TIMING CAN BE CHANGED ON A 5.9 ITS A DISTIBUTOR, 5.9 TEND TO LABOR KNOCK IN THE HEAT ESPECIALLY WHEN USING THE CHEAP GAS TRY USING PREMIUM AND THE LABOR KNOCK WILL STOP, IT HAS BEEN PROVEN IN THE 5.9 THAT PREMIUM FUEL GIVES THE 5.9 1BOUT 10 MORE HORSES DO TO THE HIGH TIMING CURVE, YOU CAN RETARD THE TIMING ABOUT 4 DEGREES AND IT WON'T LABOR KNOCK ANYMORE , BUT IT KINDA RUNS LIKE A DOG AND GET WORSE FUEL MILAGE, AS FOR SOMEONE SAYING YOU CAN'T ADVANCE OR RETARD THE TIMING THEY NEED TO BE SLAPPED, THIS AIN'T NO CARAVAN

 

Thought the dist. was injector timing based on the camshaft sensor (changes pulse width). The crank sensor is for the timing(when to send the spark? If I understand the new stuff![sm=icon_blah.gif]

 

the distributor sends the spark , nothing to do with a sensor, the injector pulse is controled by the pcm that gets its imfo from the cam sensor---thats how it works