2.8L Problem

[RupertMoody]

I have a 1990 Isuzu Trooper I bought a little while ago with the Chevy 2.8L V6 in it. When I bought the Trooper, the guy told me that he had adjusted the timing by ear because his timing light broke in the process. I checked the timing today, to find that it was at about 22 degrees BTDC, when it's supposed to be 10 degrees BTDC. I took off the air cleaner and two of the three vaccum hoses connected to it to get to the distributor. I loosened the distributor bolt a little so that I may move it. Long story short, Iit slipped waaay too far (engine was not running, as I was just making sure the distributor was movable). I moved it back to where I thought it was originally.

I started the truck with a little gas pedal action. It almost died, then the idling rpms went up to a few thousand. I shot the timing light to discover that the timing was about a million degrees after TDC, so I moved (maybe a little too fast, but I thought I was going pretty slow) the distributor so the timing started going back to where it was supposed to be, but it stalled and didn't wanna restart. I moved the distributor back in the direction it came (that is, I moved the timing after TDC more) bit by bit. I got the truck running, but it was belching black smoke and needed a constant foot on the gas, so I shut it off after a few seconds.

A roomate's friend was over and he knows his engines, so I got his help to get the timing right. He says it's now set to 12 degrees BTDC (I was keeping the thing running, so I didn't see). It wasn't idling right before it stalled off once the timing was set (rather, it stalled as soon as my foot was off the gas), and now it won't start. I reconnected the vaccum lines, hoping for a miracle, but no change. Roomate's friend had to go, so I left it. He'll come back tomorrow, but the more ideas the better.

Notes: It may have been belching black smoke when I first started it after knocking the distributor, or when the timing was set right, but it was dark, I was in the truck, and I couldn't see. After the distributor got knocked, it sounded like it was running rough and very fast, but it didn't stall until I moved the timing back towards BTDC. It turns over fine, and I was giving it gas, but when I did, it stopped turning over as well. The intake was smoking after all that.

Any ideas or advice will be much appreciated! Thanks!

[rhandwor]

Look at the TDC 0 deg.mark on the engine and the timing mark on the harmonic balancer. Mark them with white out. Get under the vehicle the harmonic balancer has a rubber damper. Sometimes this rubber breaks loose and the balancer spins around. If its bad get another one from a junk yard from a core engine or buy a new one. Sometimes the gear gets worn and they jump time. Using a wrench move your crank past the 0 deg mark by about 60 deg. Then move it back to zero take some white out and mark your dist base where the tip of the rotor is then move clockwise until the rotor just starts to move you turn by hand and your friend watchs. If the crank moves over 15 to 20 deg you need a new timing chain.
I would buy a haynes and make sure what hoses need plugged to set the timing. You will need one to replace the chain and top gear.