[JustD]

I had the three bolts out and the lock plate off and could spin the pump 360º It would rotate around with pressure and then release pressure and jump forward (a spring inside I guess.

I put the lock plate back on and the three bolts on loosely (I already put the cover back on and new gasket with RTV...I'd prefer to not pull it back off.) and now can move the pump as described in the first post.

And yes, you're correct (of course!) by "bolt" I mean the 22mm/7/8" nut on the end of the pump shaft. Photo:

 

[JustD]

(I feel like I need a one click "Thanks @Naplm00 - You're the best!" macro or something. He always steps up with great info!)

Ok, here I go:

1. I removed the lock plate and bolts
2. Spun the 7/8 nut on the end of the pulley clockwise
3. It spins around with tension, lifting the gauge, and then "pop" drops back to no tension and no lift for about 1/4 turn
4. I keep turning the big nut clockwise through the "no lift/no tension" section until I just start to see some lift at the gauge. I set that point as my zero.
5. Rotate around until I see 1.6 lift (slightly advanced past the stock 1.54)
6. Lock the pump with the little bolt on the side
7. Replace the locking plate and bolts

The only issue I have is that once I get to this new lift I can only get two of the bolts back in. The bolt at the 9 o'clock position seems just a hair out and won't go in straight. Thoughts?

(Above - view with 1.6mm lift)

(Above - view with with zero lift for reference)

 

[JustD]

I think I've figured out my issue. I have two rods (for lack of a better term) in my set (short and long) as well as two pump adapter things (that the rod slides through and the gauge mounts on top of).

With the short rod and short adapter (as well as long/long) the rod is too short to keep constant contact inside the pump.

I tried the short and long rod both in the long adapter but the plunger wouldn't move freely. What I really need is a "medium" rod I can use in the short adapter.

Unless anyone thinks I'm still off base I'll Dremel down the long adapter so that it's long enough to keep in contact with the pump plunger.

 

[JustD]

Back at this after being on vacation for the week. Still struggling…

I just changed my timing belt and am 99% sure (which means I probable screwed it up!) that I had the flywheel in the right spot, aligned the marks up on the crank and timing wheel and got the belt on properly and the timing pin fit fine. (1991 ROW Defender 90 200TdI)

Now I’m trying to set the timing with the dial gauge. I’ve still got the flywheel in TDC and am rotating the 7/8 nut clockwise as you can see in this video. At the 13 second mark you can see that what I think is Zero. The pump is rising up until that point and then starts turning the other direction. If I keep turning, the gauge eventually stops (where the gauge adapter loses contact with the pump plunger) for about 1/4 or so revolutions of the 7/8 nut and then starts lifting again (and eventually hitting the same zero where it reverses direction).

My question now is ASSUMING that the zero point at 13 seconds in the video is correct (and the rest of my procedure is, too) what do I do from here?

After the zero (13 seconds) I don’t get any lift, just the plunger moving back down until I lose contact with it?

 

[JustD]

I just checked and I was wrong about the dial losing connection with the piston.

I rotated until I was in the 1/4 or so turn area where I get zero dial movement and pulled the gauge. When I put the gauge back in (at the same spot) I can feel/see the gauge come in contact and the dial lift, so I know I'm in contact.

So...

I'm guessing that the long 1/4 turn area where I see zero dial movement is my zero? I'm thinking I keep advancing through this area until just before the dial starts lifting and set the dial at zero and then go for my 1.54 lift from that point?

I did that, locked the pump (bolt on the side) at 1.54 but now the locking plate bolts and the timing pin hole don't line up...

This is killing me. Anyone on the Denver area want a case of beer to give me a hand?

Thanks.

 

[JustD]

To find the zero the gauge pointer should seesaw back and forth over a place on the gauge face. rotating in ONE direction you will see the pointer move to a set position then pause and reverse course without stopping. you can fine tune finding this spot by getting an idea where it iwas pausing and moving the big 7/8 nut back and forth across the TINY area, then setting the dial face to zero where it "pauses" and starts moving the other direction. This is zero.

Now I'm more confused. @Naplm00 seems to be saying that the point where the needle moves from one direction to the other would be the zero but @Red90 indicates it's the long, flat area with no lift. Visualizing it I would think it's the long flat area and the point where the needle see-saws back and forth would be the peak lift.

If I zero based on the long, flat area as @Red90 indicates I guess I have to just keep going around, at least through the four injection areas until I find a spot where the pin goes in and the bolts line up?

 

[JustD]

Ok, I sorted this out. It turns out I was using the wrong notch in the flywheel to determine engine TDC and none of the holes in the injection pump timing were lining up. For future reference, here is what I did:

1. Had a helper rotated engine while I stuck a screwdriver through the bottom drain hole in the back flywheel cover. When the screwdriver stuck on one of the (two, apparently) notches in the flywheel I marked this notch with some fingernail polish.
2. I rotated the pump’s 7/8 nut around a few times to see if the pump’s hole, the hole inside spinning by the timing belt and the locking bolt holes lined up. Nothing ever lined up so I assumed that the marked flywheel notch was the wrong one.
3. Back under the car I had the helper turn the crank bolt clockwise until I found the second notch (not marked) in the flywheel and then repeated step two above. Voila! The timing pin slid in to the pump and the locking bolts all lined up.
4. I removed the timing pin from the pump, knowing I was “pretty close”. I slowly rotated the pump’s 7/8” not clockwise, though the long flat area with no needle movement. When the gauge’s needle just started to go up I backed off a bit and set my Zero on the gauge.
5. I then rotated very slowly clockwise until the needle went around 1.54 times (indicating 1.54mm lift on the injection pump). I then locked this in with the small locking bolt on the side of the injection pump. Note: step 4 and 5 involve only rotating the pump nut a small bit, maybe 1/8 of a turn total, so the three locking bolts and timing pin (drill bit) still went in.
6. I put the locking plate and three locking bolts back on to the pump, loosened the small locking bolt on the side of the pump and put its lock tab back on.
7. Then, to check, I rotated the crank bolt clockwise twice (a little mark on the top of the pulley helped me track it’s rotation. Just before the mark got back to the top of the pulley on the second rotation (indicating I was back at top dead center - TDC) I saw that the gauge went to zero and then rotating slightly more, I got to my final 1.54mm lift. I crawled back under the car and verified I was at TDC because my (unmarked) flywheel notch is visible through the hole in the housing.

This was a simple process and took about 5 minutes once I realized I was using the wrong flywheel notch.

It’s kind of a pain to use this gauge method (you have to remove the injection pipes and the oil filter housing) so I hope that this method is really more accurate than just jamming a drill bit into the pump housing hole.

I also set my timing at 1.6mm lift (versus the 1.54 I mention above) since I’m having a lot of white smoke when I release the accelerator pedal. I’ll update this thread once I get it all back together. Thanks all.