Timing issue

[Fireimp141]

I have a problem... I did my engine rebuild with a friend and now we cant get it to start up. Weve gone through numerous things. The distributor cap was bad, the wires were in the wrong firing order, bought 4 new spark plugs, we had the tooth wrong on the distributor to cam crank... all sorts of stuff... also something really weird. When i had 4 plugs connected sometimes it would run for 5 seconds after the key was out of the ignition. With only 2 connected it turned over better and ran for longer... WTF?! i just need some suggestions on getting the timing right and whatnot. Thanx.

Jareth

[kyle_22r]

man, sounds like you've got some problems!

to correctly time the engine, here's what you do:

1. set the crank 8* BTDC on the #1 compression stroke.
2. take the distributor, and point the rotor straight up
3. insert the distributor, when the distributor gear meshes with the drive gear on the cam, the rotor should point off to the left a bit.
4. pop off the rotor, and rotate the distributor until the reluctor tooth is lined up with the pickup(black thing in the distributor, there should be a little thing in the middle about as wide as the tooth).
5. torque the distributor bolt to 11-15lbs, and fire it up!

did that, mine runs great and i haven't even tried a timing light on it yet...

[Mike D]

I'm guessing you did the timing chain with your rebuild, that may be off. And hopefully you rebuilt the engine correctly cause the timing is easier than the rebuild.

[Fireimp141]

Ill try that Kyle, appriciate it.. and no the timing chain and all are on perfect, i tripple checked. And is that 8 degress BTDC below top dead center? and what about the swivel action and watnot of the distributor? whats that set at? or does it matter? thanx alot!!

[Fireimp141]

YES!!! kyle is awesome! i did what you said and it runs!! its still a wee bit off, but other than that it runs fine, had some power steering air in the line probs, and a pully is a little loose, but other than that its running yay!! 5 turtles to you (once time permits)                     

[79coyotefrg]

i m glad you got it running,  was kinda worried you got your cam timing off a tooth,   you can play with your dist timing for best power, by loosening the bolt and moving it a bit then driving an 1/8th inch will make a big difference

[Fireimp141]

Well theres a couple of things i need to get down first... i have a small oil leak somewhere-few(7-8) small 6 inch spots after 6 hours of work, a big water leak somewhere-under side of hood and top of intake was covered... engine smoked all the way home from work... 10 min down highway... left a cloud behind me, and i need to tighten my bracket that attaches the bell housing to the block (rattles a $hit load)....... then i can work on timing again

[79coyotefrg]

   almost sounds like a blown headgasket,             you did check your head for cracks didnt you


maybe you just forgot to tighten a hose,    did you use rtv on the intake gasket??  or on the head gasket around the timing cover???

[Fireimp141]

We just replaced the head gasket... and yes we checked for cracks like 4 times, and used RTV on almost all gaskets (the ones that needed it ) and yah, i think its just a loose hose or bolt somewhere, imma check it out tommarrow

[Mike D]

Your mechanic friend don't sound to smart (no offence) you always need to have the head presure tested and resurfaced when doing a head gasket

[FATB0Y]

Your mechanic friend don't sound to smart (no offence) you always need to have the head presure tested and resurfaced when doing a head gasket

And ya need 2 replace the head bolts. (I found that out the hard way )

[Mike D]

yeah those can warp also  8)

[FATB0Y]

and strech