i need step by step 100% foolproof setup for timing on 1996 5.9l 360 dodge engine. when dots on new timing gears are aligned the distributor rotor points to #6 cylinder not #1. i can see and feel #1 piston is at top of cylinder. the #1 valve springs both appear to be uncompressed. i assume this means the piston is at top of compression stroke yet rotor points to #6. the distributor has never been out of engine for at least 15 years and engine worked perfectly for last 100k miles so i don't think it has been installed 180 degrees backwards. the crank gear and the camshaft gear are not chained together yet-i turn each one seperately-does this matter? the timing gears can only be installed 1 way due to being keyed. the old timing chain was loose and probably skipped many teeth-the engine barely started, wouldn't idle, backfired thru intake constantly, sounded like crap, completely undriveable.

 

I ran into this same issue earlier in the year. There was more than one mark on the OEM timing gears. One was a dot and one was a notch. I believe I used the notch on the cam gear and the dot on the crank gear when I aligned it and took the OEM one off. If you did the same as me then your cam is 180 degrees off.

 



 

No. Number 1 is labeled on the distributor cap. If 6 is at TDC firing position, then the number six wire goes where the rotor is pointing.

 

Okay I put in the timing chain kept getting confused on what piston is doing what I've took it apart and put it back five times already the last time it was starting but was hard to start and wouldn't stay running missing badly and shaking badly so I took it apart again and redid it with on saying the cam sprocket mark faces 12 not six popped my cap an got rotor pointing at number one ,nothing so I took it back apart made the marks at six and 12 I had someone turn it over while I messed with the distributor it tried a couple times but didn't catch I've moved wires and moved em I've made sure one was tdc as well as six being tdc and nothing the only reason it needed replaced is because I put a long bolt where a short bolt was supposed to go in the new water pump and broke the sprocket when I went to turn it over and the chain broke I was going to put the new one on the same way as the other came off but the new one is a double roller and when I took off cam sprocket I turned it with the chain being broken so I had to start from scratch I don't know what to do at this point and I'm tired of reading all the wrong directions and seeing wrong videos is it six or one that is firing at tdc I don't know

 

Okay from number six where rotor points I continue the firing order from six? That's my understanding is that six is supposed to be tdc on these magnum motors I didn't know tdc is the firing position so what do I do ? Pop the cap 1.2 turn the crank until six is top dead center ? And start off from six where the rotor points? And continue the firing order after six? What comes after six what do I do from there I'm lost man I'm just a poor white boy tryna get his truck back on the road

 

These are what's called an interference engine. What that means is if you rotate the crankshaft and camshaft independently of each other there is no clearance between the piston and valves making for a pretty good chance of either bending a valve or cracking the top of a piston. So if there's a chance that happened the heads will have to come off. Let's assume that didn't happen...when the timing mark down on the crankshaft pulley lines up with the TDC mark the #1 piston will be all the way up (pull the spark plug and insert a long thin screwdriver as a visual aid to see the piston move up and down), both valves for the #1 cylinder should be fully closed, and the rotor should be pointing at the #1 tower on the cap..