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Rotate engine without jacking up?

jjad

jjad

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Herefordshire
How easy is it to rotate the engine (to check points/dwell angle) without having to jack up the front wheels? Some books talk about applying a spanner to a nut on one of the pulleys at the front of the engine.

(I'm learning how to adjust the points and ignition timing, thanks to @Andrew4Renaults help.)
 
I don't know about others but I always put it in second on level ground and nudged the car along until TDC mark etc.. so light it seemed easy to me?
 
Removing the sparking plugs and then turn the main crank bolt is the normal way, but if you don't want to remove the plugs, jacking up one front wheel and second gear ought to do it....

Good luck!
 
Thanks Richard and Andrew,

the spark plug nearest the front (cylinder #1?) is difficult to access (due to the alternator), so if I can get away with jacking up just one side, then that would be easiest I think (I'd not realised you only need jack up one side). (Plus I'm not sure if there is an accessible 'main crank bolt'?)

Thanks again!
 
Cylinder no.1 is indeed on the front side. Jack the car up on one side, put it in second gear (like @Andrew4Renaults wrote) and turn on the jacked up wheel, it's possible due to the working of the differential inside the gearbox.
There is no "main crank bolt" at the front, but you can use the camshaft pully bolt and with the help of a fittable spanner you can turn the engine.
But turning the wheel is easier.
Camshaftpulley.jpg
 
If you want to turn the engine from the camshaft bolt do take the spark plugs out please. At the distribution side you are turning a large sprocket that turns the small sprocket of the crankshaft. The extra force from compression inside the cilinders if you leave the spark plugs in, might damage the camshaft bolt or destroy the thread the bolt sits in.
Honestly I’d go for turning one of the wheels with the other on the ground and the gearbox in second gear.
 
I agree with @harbourseal, turning the camshaft bolt is risky but @jjad asked for a possibility so my last sentence was "turning the wheel is easier " and you should (could) go for the easiest :D
 
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jacking the car up sounds easier than extra loading on timing chain and tensioner etc with possible damage risk
 
Thanks everyone.:hug:

I'll let you know how I get on when I get round to doing it :)
 
I'm sure that Andrew is giving you some good advice, Jjad,

I made this video a while back to show how to set your timing correctly, it also shows how I jacked the wheel up. I used a jack stand as the jack itself can get a little wobbly when you rotate the wheel.

Hope it gives you ideas.
 
Thanks @mojobaby, I've seen your excellent video a few times now. I couldn't tell if you jacked up both sides, or just one side. But it looks like only one side is necessary. I'll dig out the axle stands.
Thanks :)
 
David M said:
Just make sure that you don’t make a fine adjustment to the timing by turning the road wheel back in the other direction. It will pick up the slack in the timing chain and won’t be accurate.
Click to expand...
ABSOLUTELY! You need to keep the "working" side of the timing chain tight throughout this manoeuvre, or you'll not obtain an accurate setting. Mindful of other comments earlier in this thread I'd just say that removing the plugs reduces the resistance in turning the engine to almost nil, so I would think then turning the engine using the fan belt or a spanner on the dynamo pulley is easier than jacking a wheel and turning it. I would also contend it's more accurate!

Just a thought and I appreciate others may prefer other methods!
 
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