MTFCA Forum

We just took off the old roller timer from our 1913 Touring and put on a New Day Timer purchased recently from one of our outstanding suppliers. With the timer spring tightened down, the timer wobbles badly and the timing adjustment lever on the steering column will not stay on one place. We followed the instructions provided. Anyone experience this and have a fix? Maybe this was addressed before on the forum but i couldn't find it. For now, we put the old roller timer back in. We have had a New Day on our '25 coupe for years without any issues. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

My first thought is the timer spring is not putting enough pressure on the timer. If you can wiggle the timer by hand with the spring nut tightened the spring is bent or needs to be bent. Take the spring off the car, put it in a vice and bend it another 1/4" and give it a try, repeat as needed.

Might check if the timer front plate has the brass shield with felt behind for oil seal. The forward facing New Day rotor housing can impinge on a bent shield. Modern oil seal is preferred over the Ford brass shield and felt.

Or the New Day rotor protrudes too much due the the cam shaft designs, have seen that before, and modifying the rotor housing may be a cure.

Perhaps the New Day rotor brush was mis-aligned when fitting the New Day timer cover, allowing the bronze brush to be at an odd angle.

Wobble would be due to some mechanical interference somewhere, be sure to the New Day cover seats neatly and concentrically in the timer front plate groove, checking that with the rotor removed.

Brass shield, if the felt oil seal is used, the brass plate must be present or the rotor will grind up the felt.

The modern seal is preferred.

I once had a similar issue when I over tightened the cam nut, causing the brush to run crooked against the timer.

Are you running a fiber timing gear? They are wider than the original gear and will cause exactly what is happening when you install a New Day Timer. It will wobble all around.

Modern seal installed, timer spring tightened as much as possible and still allow the timer rod to move the timer. Don't know about a fiber gear or not.

Have you checked the front timing gear plate that the cam shaft is centered in the location where the timer fits. Also the cam bearings. Is the front bearing loose causing the cam shaft to wobble?
Norm

I had that same issue. The problem was that the oil seal I have sticks up and I had to cut a notch in the rotor it to make some clearance. It was a really bad wobble and it was grinding away at the timer. I am not sure what kind of seal is in my engine because it was that way when I bought it and it does not leak a drop so I am not going to touch it.

The brush is sticking out further than the timer contact face.
To see how much, make a simple gage. A strip of thick paper strip trimmed to fit from the timer face to the mounted edge around the total inside diameter.
Take your gage & place in place of the timer in the timing gear cover. Eye sight or straight edge across the edges with the brush fully compressed. The brush must sit lower than gage the edges. It does not now.
You can look into the oil breather to see the type of cam gear.
The brush holder, brush or gear nut can be modified to fit. The brush holder should be seated down on the cams machined edge.
The felt & brass plate isnt good enough to keep ALL the oil out. That timer has to be run dry. Put a modern lip seal in.

bdtutton wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 20, 2024 11:58 am

I had that same issue. The problem was that the oil seal I have sticks up and I had to cut a notch in the rotor it to make some clearance. It was a really bad wobble and it was grinding away at the timer. I am not sure what kind of seal is in my engine because it was that way when I bought it and it does not leak a drop so I am not going to touch it.

What I see is the timing gear nut is sitting to high, not allowing the brush holder to seat on the cam.
The brush holder modification got the holder to seat properly.

What do you mean wobbles? Up down side to side or rocking across the face? Not sure how there would be up down side to side movement using a New Day as the brush should not be affected by the cover not being centered.

speedytinc
What I see is the timing gear nut is sitting to high, not allowing the brush holder to seat on the cam.
The brush holder modification got the holder to seat properly.

The nut used should have been the shorter one. The gear used would have been thicker than stock so the lip sticks out further. The nylon gears come with a shorter nut for example. But the solution works.

No disrespect Steve but that "small" centering tool DOES NOT center the timer body into the timing cover - the larger one that Gene French machines out is the proper tool.

...that "small" centering tool DOES NOT center the timer body into the timing cover

Correct. That isn't its purpose. It is intended to align the cover on the shaft before the bolts are tightened. If the cover is centered on the shaft, the timer will be centered too.

I do what mr Tutton does, but I do a better job of filing out the notch!

That’s not original Mr. Smith.

When I put the New Day on my T it was doing the Hula. I ordered two brass shields and cut the middle out to fit over the modern seal. The brass shields act as a shim to bring the timer a little away from the cover, then my New Day stopped doing the Hula.