the weiner got ahead of me!!! 
Help please
Thread Starter
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More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 739
Likes: 11
From: Westfield, North Carolina
Help please
I have a 1980 F-150 with a 302, I bought a new distribitor cap,rotor ,plugs, and wires for it , and i must have accidently crossed a wire b/c all it does is backfire thru the carb now and wont fire, can some one show me a diagram for the spark plug order, please? I have to have this truck asap and i dont have ashop manual that covers 80 and up. Thank you
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
Best way to avoid that from happening is to replace the wire one at a time.
To fix your problem, need to know how you arranged the wires. As you are facing the motor, the left side is starting at the front(closest) 1,2,3,4 (rear cyl) and on the other side(driver's),5,6, 7,8. distributo rotation is counter clockwise, starting 1,5,4,2,6,3,7,8. There should be a number one cast into the cap, it is next to the post to hook #1 wire to. If this isn't successful, set the timing mark to TDC, (line up ) and the mark on the balancer) and see what it lines up to. It should line up to #1 or #6, as they are 1/2 rotation from eack other. It is possible that a previous owner has put the distributor in of time. If that isn't it, it is way off, and more work is necessary.
To fix your problem, need to know how you arranged the wires. As you are facing the motor, the left side is starting at the front(closest) 1,2,3,4 (rear cyl) and on the other side(driver's),5,6, 7,8. distributo rotation is counter clockwise, starting 1,5,4,2,6,3,7,8. There should be a number one cast into the cap, it is next to the post to hook #1 wire to. If this isn't successful, set the timing mark to TDC, (line up ) and the mark on the balancer) and see what it lines up to. It should line up to #1 or #6, as they are 1/2 rotation from eack other. It is possible that a previous owner has put the distributor in of time. If that isn't it, it is way off, and more work is necessary.
Thread Starter
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More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 739
Likes: 11
From: Westfield, North Carolina
Well redone it , all the wires are right and now it still wont fire, i can move the "dizzy" and it dont even affect a thing, so im guessing that maybe it jumped time? Idea's?
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
If it was running fine before you did the wires, then I doubt the timing has jumped. try switching the wires around as I described before, move 6 to where 1 is, and arrange accordingly. The popping sounds like it could be half off, and that will fix it, at least to run... I had a jeep that someone did that to me, and I finally figured out that the distributor was put in with the rotor one half crank rotation off. In all actuality, the distributor can be put in at any position, as long as the wires correspond to the proper cylinder at the right time.
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New User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1
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hi i have a ford 302 i rebuilt and i was wondering if anyone could help me? i had put a msd distributor in it and i was wondering if it matters where i put the rotor facing as long as piston 1 is a top dead center?
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Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
The rotor needs to be facing the terminal for #1 cylinder, and you need to be sure it is top dead for #1, not 180 degrees off... You can put the rotor any way you want, as long as you make sure that the terminal the rotor points to goes to #1, but it is easier for future work to make it the same #1 that is common... I have gotten vehicles that they arranged the wires different than standard, and it made for a real PITA to work with until I figured out what the deal was...