First ill start with a little history of this truck because its needed. 1988 f150 4x4 with 302 HO. This is the 3rd motor put in this truck. It was my dads, then he sold it. I got it back from the person he sold it to. Did a complete tune up and got it going good. New plugs and wireset. I hooked the wires up the way the old ones was hooked when i got it. When I changed them, I didnt think to check and make sure correct firing order. So the truck started running pretty bad weeks later. Missing horribly. Barley made it home one day. No power to the wheels when accelerating and jerking bad. Fuel pressure is good BTW. So I was looking at the distributor cap and realized this wasnt the correct firing order for a regular 302 or 302 HO. First I tried the 302 firing order. No start. Tried the HO firing order, no start. Im stumped completely and cant remember the way the wires was hooked up before I noticed it. Anyway the previous owner could have changed the firing order somehow? How would I figure it out?

 

When in doubt start at the beginning. Bring #1 piston(pass side front) to TDC on compression stroke and make sure the crank timing marks line up. If not the distributor isn't stabbed correctly and it'll never work right.

 

I can't imagine the firing order of the engine was changed. I mean, that's extremely unlikely.

What's more likely, is that during your tune up you may have inadvertently rotated the distributor if the bolt/clamp that holds it from rotating was loose.

First thing I suggest you do is ensure you have the plugs in the right order for that that engine. Secondly, check your timing using a strobe light. I don't know if your '88 has a SPOUT connector or not, so you'll have to look that up. But if it does, then you'll need to remove that an ensure the timing is set to 10 degrees BTDC - again, check that 10 degrees is correct - I'm just going from memory here.

Best of luck,

-Matt

 

Blast, you beat me to it Conanski

 

The original 88' had a spout....

 

I cant really check the timing if I cant git it fired up.

 

Crank the engine with the starter. Yes, it works in a pinch.

 

You sort of can.

Rigging up an easy-to-use starter bypass is a simple task, since the starter solenoid is right there. Set the timing light up, just like you would with the engine running, and while cranking the motor with the switch I mentioned above, hit it with the timing light.

Presuming you're having issues with the timing/firing order, not something more catastrophic.

 

If all of this is true, the firing order was just fine & the problem is/was elsewhere.

Now, what has been done since to "fix" the firing order may have just added a layer of problems on top of the original issue.

If this is a "true HO", it uses a 351 windsor firing order.

 

When you say fuel pressure is good, what is it?

 

I still think your most likely problem is that you probably twisted the distributor by accident. Easily confirm by trying to twist it; if it rotates at all then it was probably moved enough to affect your timing. Easy enough fix. First set the engine to TDC #1 cylinder, then ensure that the distributor contact is pointing at the #1 cylinder in the dist (or as close as you can get it). Once you have that completed, ensure that you have the wires going to the right cylinders and then it'll probably fire up. At that point you can use the strobe and set it properly. If it's still running like crap, well, you've at least eliminated a few of the variables.

 

It could be a 351 windsor cam. Different firing order

 

There have been a few cases lately where the pin in the distributor gear has sheared off, I think it's another case of crappy chinese parts. This won't necessarily mean the gear falls off though it might just slip enough that the timing is never right.