Well guys, I put the distributor back to where I *thought* was the right way, which would have the rotor pointing to the #1 terminal. Now it will DEFINATELY not start =/. It just backfires and pops when you try to.

Now, why in the world would the distributor do this on the #1 terminal, and SOMEWHAT run when pointing to the #6 terminal? This is starting to not make any sense.




Now, I have thought a few things over:

-When I put the distributor in, I must have done it on the exhaust stroke by mistake, which is why it was running while the rotor was pointing to the #6 terminal, which means...

-Maybe I put the cam in on the exhaust stroke? The cam was put in with the #1 cylinder at TDC, but is there a way that maybe when the heads were put back on, the cam got set to the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke? But then for this to happen, the dots would have to have been super mis-aligned, which I know they are not, BUT...

-How is the distributor being 180 out keeping the car running, and having it in the "right way" not? This seems impossible to me!


I have tried multiple amounts of timing in either direction, checked, rechecked, and rechecked the order of the plug wires, and I cannot for the life of me get this car to hold an idle, or just run normal. It pretty much "limps" for lack of a better word. This isn't marginal "hey I dont think my car is making as much power as it should", it is "hey, I am flooring it and my car feels like it is about to explode, and it still wont break 15mph, and it still wont shift...oh wait there it is."


Can someone verify my theories here?

 

ok, stop right here and do this. remove the distributor cap and #1 spark plug. have someone turn the motor over while you put your finger over the plug hole. when compression starts to push your finger off, that's the compression stroke for #1. now, look at the timing mark on the balancer and line it up with the 0* mark on the tab. now, look where the rotor is pointing. this is where you will put the #1 plug wire. put the wires in order in a clockwise 18436572. now, this will get you close. start the car with EST unplugged. set timing to 6* BTDC.

 

my next suggestion is you have the distributor in correctly and timed correctly. you may have misadjusted valves. this will make it run poorly as well. this is how i set valve lash per cylinder http://centralfloridastreetcars.com/rockerswap.htm

 

I did what you said in your first post earlier today, but I pulled all the plugs (to relieve compression) and waited until the intake valve lifted and then closed, and then marked 0* on the timing tab to get TDC on the compression stroke. The rotor was then set to the #1 terminal, and this is the point where we buttoned it up and tryed again, but got absolutely nothing, just popping and backfiring when trying to start it up, indicating a reversed distributor.

I did your second suggestion two weeks ago, and lashed them to spec, they couldnt be more dead on.


See how I am chasing my tail here?




UPDATE!:

I have decided to offer a reward to anyone that can come to Hamilton, NJ and fix my car. The winner will get a 30 pack of his or her (preferably her) choice of beer.

 

definitely sounds like the dist. is in 180* out. what year is your car?

 

Read the thread thus far, you'll see what I'm getting at here. It's a 1990.

 

brings me to my third suggestion and what another person was hinting at. are you absolutely positive the lined the dots up on the gears correctly? if you are a tooth off, it will run like crap no matter what you do.

tech tip: when you line up the dots (cam 6 o'clock) and crank (12 o'clock). this puts you at 6 compression. you are supposed to turn an additional one crank turn to get on #1 compression.

pic of how the dots are supposed to line up.
http://www.stealthram.com/familypics...imingchain.jpg

 

Really now? Are you sure? I never heard of this, I did not turn another turn, I left the dots lined up. Would you say this is it then?

 

This is true as I made mention of a jumped tooth on the chain, but the relationship of the cam (TDC), to fire on the distributor will be off slightly, if the dizzy is off a tooth.

 

Thats more or less what I was getting at w/out actually saying it. That's why I suggested turning the distributor (while still IN the car..) w/ the car running to see if the running condition adjusted.

Thats what I was saying too. If you advanced that cam any, it's gonna run like crap because the cam came pre-advanced so the dots MUST be lining up

 

Yeah, I am going to re-check the positioning of the cam next, but mrr23 said that the dots had to be lined up, and THEN you turn the engine over one more time and put the chain on? Someone verify this for me because I definately did not do this, I just lined them up and put on the chain. Would this explain why my distributor works backwards?

 

^What?? I put the chain on when the dots were matching too and my car ran great I think what he's saying about cranking it over once is incorrect

 

Yeah thats what I figured...hmm.

 

line up the dots put the engine at TDC #6 cylinder if you were to drop the distributor in right away.....since i like beer i'll try to help

crank the motor over by hand until the intake valve opens, then closes completely, THEN turn the motor over until the balancer slot lines up with 0 on the timing tab. drop the distributor in with the rotor pointing toward #1. then turn the motor over watching the distributor move around again, when you start to feel a "puff" of air coming out of the spark plug hole continue turning the engine over to the balancer slot is shows again, is the rotor pointing towards #1 now? if so put the cap on and the valve cover back on and try to start. It helps having a buddy there, to point the timing light at the engine while cranking, to see if it is timed "close" enough to get the motor to fire. if the light is not flashing while you can see the slot, keep turning the dizzy back and forth until it can. remember clockwise advances and counter clockwise retards.

 

I definately thought it was the other way around.