Hey guys, so I decided to take care of a few things over the weekend and now i cant get my f350 to start. I replaced the brushes in the starter, changed out the timing chain and rebuilt my oil pump. I triple checked the marks when I was installing the timing chain. The marks on the cam and crank both faced 3 o;clock and i counted 12 pins in between. Since i rebuilt the oil pump I decided to pull the distributor and check the gear teeth to make sure they were OK. I pulled the distributor after I installed the timing chain and I made sure the #1 cylinder was at TDC and the rotor was facing at the number 1 location on my distributor cap. I had already replaced the points, condenser and ignition coil a while back and it started fine with no issues.

I put her all back together and now it wont start. It turns over but there is no spark. I used a little bit of starter fluid and it wouldn't catch. I pulled the number 1 plug and it was soaked in gas. I know there something im missing I just cant seem to figure out. Any help would b e greatly appreciated.

 

Unless you know you were on the compression stroke when setting it at TDC you could be 180 degrees off on the distributor.

 

If no spark at all, start with the basics. Make sure the coil is wired properly. Check the points. If it has been sitting for a while, you can get corrosion on the point faces. I usually put a dollar bill in the points and pull it out a couple times to make sure they are clean. Make sure nothing is grounded in the points area. Make sure the rotor is not corroded.

When you try to start it pull a plug wire at the distributor and hold the wire near the plug and see if it will spark. If it does then you have spark, but likely have something misaligned with the distributor. However if you have spark but have the distributor way off it usually back fires pretty badly.

HTH

 

OK guys well I discovered a few things out. I had flooded the engine trying to get it started the first time around. I pulled the number 1 plug and it was soaked in gas. I pulled the plugs and let everything dry out. I made sure I was at tdc, I pulled the distributor and reinserted it and made sure my firing order was correct. Yesterday morning I was able to get it to run for about 3 seconds and it died. This morning I was able to achieve the same thing so I'm definitely getting spark and fuel. I moved the distributor a bit this morning and now it won't start at all. So I would assume that the timing chain is correct but the distributor is still off? I'm off Friday so I'll have all day to try to figure this out.

 

You are getting close, maybe 1 tooth off for the distributor?

 

All good points (heh) above, but to be sure replace the condensor with a known good one.

The new ones are mostly totally junk and cause much headscratching. If you have one made 30 years ago try that one. Or a Motorcraft.

 

You said it runs for about 3 seconds? Is that just while the key is in the start position? If so your ignition resistor may be bad or disconnected.

 

It only ran like that twice. Each time is was a very cold morning but it has not happened since those two times. I hooked up my spark plug tester, all 8 cylinders are getting spark. Ive messed with the distributor till i was blue in the face and i am still no better off. The only signs of life today were a few backfires through the tail pipe and one through the carb. I hate to do it, but maybe I should check my timing chain again. I have a new battery but cranking the engine sounds sluggish. This is really stumping me.

 

If its backfiring out the exhaust and back through the carb the timing is off. Are you sure it was on the compression stroke when you set TDC?

 

Make sure you don't have the wires on the distributor backwards (correct firing order but going the wrong way on the cap). It is easy to do, I have done it.