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so i bought a 91 f150 4.9 recently and it seemed like it ran ok, a bit hard to start but once going was fine. investigating the hard start i found out that several of the spark plug wires were going to the wrong spark plug. using this guide, and comparing to my other truck, i believe i got them in the right places
the #1 wire is one spot clockwise from the electrical connector that goes into the distributer. however, now it wont start at all. it tries a bit and sputters / backfires but wont start. I moved the distributer around with no luck.
so, my question is where is the approximate position of the distributer supposed to be? also, is the spout plug a vaccum hose that goes up near the intake manifold?
The other issue is i do not have the stamped timing scale on the passanger side as ive heard mentioned and as my other truck has, just the cast scale. should this be on a 91 or not? the engine looks like its been out before, so perhaps someone took it off or its an older engine? any way i can tell?
I bet the distributor has not been indexed to #1 cylinder. You need to remove that spark plug and bring the piston to TDC on the compression stroke, you will know it is on the correct stroke when you feel air being pushed out the plug hole. You can then use a small piece of rigid wire like a piece of clothes hanger to feel the piston coming up to TDC, use a breaker bar on the crank to rotate it slowly back and forth. Once you have that set remove the distributor and restab it so that the rotor points at the #1 post on the cap when fully inserted.
Yes the entire distributor must be lifted enough to disengage the drive gear from the cam, then rotate the shaft to get correct alignment a reseat the distributor.
well, i got some money together and im about to order the parts. wondering if itd make any sense to get a new distributer and coil while i have the distributer out anyway?
