My small block 350 is messin with me. Its has new distrubitor, new plugs, new wires and a new carburator. Well before i put all this, the darn thing was running like crap, old carb. After i replaced everything i can not get it to start all i get is normal crank then a very load backfire out the exhuast. Only thing i can think of is maybe the Super coil is old and not sparking hot enough or just to late(HEI). Well since this being a very helpful and one of the smartest website i was wondering if i can get some input on what the prob might be.
im not a sbc guy but it should be bring #1 up on tdc and and set teh firing order and distributor to that or i could be just off by a tooth or to not compleatly 180 out make shure to line the oil pump up to or the distributo wont fall all the way in
Well my #1 is TDC and my distributor is in correct order .But what or how do i line up the oil pump with?
If this helps, the crankshaft turns twice for each turn of the camshaft. The distributor is driven by a gear on the camshaft. If the pointer on the harmonic balancer is lined up with the 0 on the timing tab, you are either actually on top dead center, or you're 180 degrees off. You want the #1 cylinder to be at the top of the compression stroke when the distributor is pointing at the number one cylinder's spark plug lead and the pointer on the harmonic balancer lines up with 0. To check when it's on the top of the compression stroke, pull all the spark plugs to make easy to crank over by hand, and clog the #1 spark plug hole with your thumb, then rotate the crank clockwish. When you feel pressure building in the #1 cylinder (blowing out against your thumb like a fart) and the line on the harmonic balancer is approaching 0, then you know that when it gets all the way to 0, then you are at top dead center. It sounds like you're probably 180 degrees off now. Hope that helps.
Take the valve cover off, and line up timing marks. Make sure BOTH valves on #1 cylinder are closed. This is the easiest way to know for sure that you are on the compression stroke, and not the exhaust stroke. Make sure you are putting plug wires in the right direction in distributor, i.e. clockwise or counter-clockwise. Also make sure that you know how cylinders are numbered. Different engines use different methods of numbering....Ole Pork
You can use a long screwdriver to turn the oil pump shaft so that it will line up with the pin in the bottom of the distributor. The teeth on the distributor are slanted, so the rotor spins slightly as you slide the distributor down into the hole. The distributor won't really go in all the way sometimes unless the slot in the oil pump shaft and the pin in the distributor can mesh together. I think you twist the oil pump shaft to be slightly clockwise (or counterclockwise?) of where you want it to be so that as the distributor shaft rotates when the gears start to mesh, it falls into place in the oil pump shaft. It's sort of trial and error until it falls into place. Look at the "twist" of the gear teeth on the distributor shaft and think about how the distributor shaft has to rotate some as it drops down, and it'll make sense. If the vacuum advance can seems to be way off from where it used to be, you're probably off one gear tooth, so just back it out and rotate it and put it back in again (and you'll have to adjust the oil pump shaft again too probably to get everything to line up). Good luck.
ok, here is the quick and easy way. really, just a compliation of the methods already posted. pull the # 1 spark plug. hold your finger over the plug hole and tap the starter switch until you feel compression. tap the switch a little more until the timing marks line up on tdc... rotate the dist. shaft to the place you want the # 1 wire to be located and drop the dist. into the hole . hold it down with light pressure and tap the starter a few more times. dont worry about the oil pump shaft, it will drop right in when the dist. shaft lines up.. continue tapping the switch until you feel compression again, line up the marks @ tdc.... the rotor should be pointing to # 1 wire location.. and there you go.. it will start.... fyi SBC firing order is 18436572... dist. turns clockwise.. and also, it really makes no difference where # 1 is on the dist. you can toss the dist in anywhere and find the compression @ tdc marks..pull the cap to see where the rotor points and make that # 1...install the wires in the firing order...it will run fine... i dont like to tell people to pull the valve covers and look at the rockers because the valves are closed for a split second at exhaust tdc.. i will bet money that you are 180% out right now... good luck and let us know if you get it fixed dave lewis
Bugman you nailed but i will try every method posted and loop ya what goes down any other ideas are more than welcome and get em coming thanks guys ya rock!
Okay now that i got the number one cyclinder to TDC i think my damper may not of been put on right. i Did thethumb over the Plug hoe and felt the puff, so that means TDC on the cylinder but my damper is show not even close. does that make sense
Ok its running now but now it runs like crap and i have to rotate the dizzy all the way clockwise to get it to run and wont idle. So any ideas on what it could be now? Old Coil? Oh ya if i let it idle it dies or if i rotate dizzy it dies ... Any help?
Ok, a few things come to mind. GM stuff has had a problem with the outer ring of the harmonic balancer shift on the rubber sleeve. Throws the marks all off if this happens, and they only go on one way. The next thing to consider, did the chain skip a tooth? The last thing to look for, did the roll pin that holds the gear onto the distributor shaft shear? Any of these can change the timing. Now the first thing to check, will be the easy stuff. Not point taking things apart if you don't have to. This won't tell if the chain shipped, but it will show if the conditions are right. We're going to check and see if there is a lot of wear. Take the dist cap off so you can see the rotor. With the top of the rotor visible. (MAKE SURE THE KEY IS OUT OF THE IGNITION) Turn the crank by hand a few degrees, 15 or 20 there abouts, either direction. Now, make note of the spot the timing pointer is at, mark it if you have to. Now we want to go back the other way with the crank, slowly. While your doing this, watch the dist rotor as soon as it moves stop. How many degrees did it go? 2 or 3 it's ok, 10 it's getting worn. More than that, like 20 or more, there's a good chance it's skipped a tooth. Either way it's toast and should be replaced. If this pans out ok, take a look at the dist gear. The harmonic may or may not show the rubber being damaged, dose the outer ring run true, if it wobbles, it's likely let go. Time for a replacement. Let us know what you find. Rob
look at the balancer..remove the pulley so you can see the keyway..tap the switch to rotate the motor to place the keyway at the top (12:00) the timing mark on the balancer will be approx. 11:55 or so....this will tell if it has slipped... btw, having to hold the dist. all the way to one way can be easily fixed by rotating the wires on the cap one position. good luck
just another couple of sugestions. when i set up my distributors i use a piston stop and find TDC then apply degree tape to my damper. The tape is used to find total timing and i use it to tune the distributor advance curve. the piston stop can be made from a spark plug with the ceramic and guts removed . i turned a piece of aluminum bar stock and installed it into the body of the spark plug. remove all the spark plugs install the stop in #1 spark plug hole this is the forward right cylinder facing the engine from the front. rotate crank in one direction untill the piston stops, mark damper at timing pointer. rotate crank in the opposite direction untill the piston stops, mark damper again at the timing pointer. divide the distance between the two marks this will be TDC. remove the piston stop. plug #1 cylinder spark plug hole with finger and bump starter untill pressure pushes finger off plug hole. rotate crank to divide mark . your now on TDC compression stroke .apply timing tape. you will now have good referance for timing the ignition system. hope this helps.
Well its been a long time since i could work on my put put due to Crazy weather conditions in texas. This morning i was adjusting the oil pump and distrubitor to correct the advance problem and found there to be gasoline in the advance chamber of the Distrubitor is that bad? Clockwise advance and counter retard on a SBC right?
Okay its been long time since i could work on my car due to weather conditons in texas. here is where i stand now- found gasoline in the vaccum advance and was wondering if that would cuase the crazy advancment problem and if soo how can i fix that.... a simple replace? im going to remove it and clean it out let me know what ya think
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