Timing jumped during hard braking?
 

89 3VZE. Today I had to brake fairly hard for a stop light, and once I left the light the truck started chugging and hesitating and had little power. I had to limp it home, which it would get to highway speed if you wanted it to but took a while, and it has a scratching/squeeling noise every now and then when on the gas, almost like a bad bearing noise.

It idles, it runs, it drives, but with a erratic chug and lope. If you're steady on the throttle it will chug and lope a little but will stay fairly smooth, if you are on the throttle it will chug and lope quite a bit. At home I checked the timing and its way off. The pulley mark is a good inch and a half off of the timing plate. Basically its midways between the fan pulley and the bolt right next to the timing plate. I tried cracking the dissy and turning it to get it back to spec but it wont adjust far enough. I honestly dont know how it runs and idles with it that far off. The mark also bumps a little when the engine chugs.

I checked vacuum lines and didnt find any blown off or leaking. I checked the dissy cap and there are no broken posts, but they are pretty white. I haven't pulled the plugs yet. The only thing I did right before it went crazy on me is I turned the idle up slightly. The idle adj screw was all the way in and I had a low idle. It drove fine for a good 10 miles before this problem happened. Otherwise it usually runs good and strong with your typical 230k noises.

Any ideas? I'm cracking the timing cover off tomorrow to check the belt as I'm sure its needing replacing, and to check the cams to see if they jumped.

I doubt very seriously the belt jumped time. Did you short TE1 & E1 before you checked the timing?

Have you checked for ECU codes yet?

yes I did jump them, and there are no codes.

I find it hard to believe the timing could have jumped but I really cant think of why its so far off and running like this.

My only other guess is a faulty dissy, but I dont know what could have happened.

Tnrabbit asked if you jumped TE1 and E1 for the timing adjustment also. With those pins shorted you need to start the rig to check the timing. Your timing will appear way off if you don't short the pins before start up.

the timing will move a little as the rpm fluctuates even with the pins jumpered. I'm not familiar with the 3VZ specifically but in general there are only a few things that could have happened, timing belt jumped, one of the timing pulleys spun on the shaft, the dizzy gear spun on the shaft, or the timing tooth wheel spun on the shaft. Of those, none are likely but the belt slipping. as for why it happened just then I have no idea but it has absolutely nothing to do with hard braking.

The white chalky stuff on the cap contacts is because you got a cheap cap with aluminum contacts. the white stuff is aluminum oxide and doesn't conduct well. The only reason they work is because of the extremely high voltage in the ignition system being enough to get past them. Pay the extra 2 bucks for a brass-contact cap next time.

Yes I shorted/jumped the pins before checking the timing. I am not throwing any codes, but the CEL and O/D light continuously flash when in diag.

I have noticed if you ever so slightly open the throttle it will hiccup and hesitate. Once you give it a little more gas it smooths out a little but still has some roughness to it. I tried to get video but my phone doesnt pick up the sound well enough.

I also had the scratching/squeeling noise for a while this morning, then it suddenly got louder for a second then quit, and sounded kind of harsh as it did it. When idling its just a faint erratic scratch every second or so, gets louder and more consistent with the throttle. It was not a rod knock sound, I know all to well what that sounds like. I have been suspecting bad idler pulley, but not sure yet.

Some people have asked about bad gas or water in the gas, but it ran fine on this tank until the stop light incident. I have also been asked about something stuck in the fuel system, but that doesnt explain the timing being off.:dunno:

Continually flashing is a no code, and is normal.

If you can just pull the top belt cover away enough to see if both cams are in alignment when at top dead center that will eliminate the belt issue. When at that set up you can also check to see if the dizzy is pointing at the #1 spark plug wire position. If all that is fine then you have other issues.