Overhauled engine won't start
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Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2004
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Overhauled engine won't start
I just finished overhauling the 302 in my 82 F150. I had to have it bored out .04 to clean up the remaining piston in cylinders 2 and 3, went with stock crank, pistons, and cam, went with headers, an edlebrock performer 600cfm carb and intake combo. My question is this: Everything is ready to go, and I turned it over and it backfired through the carb. I realized I'm out on my timing so I tried to put it at TDC and adjust the distributor accordingly. The main problem is that I can't turn the engine over by hand, since there is no center bolt on my crank pulley to turn by, so I'm left to pop the starter a little at a time until it feels like I have it close. I've been fooling with this for two days now and still have yet to get it to fire. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 621
Likes: 2
From: Marana, AZ
Lets make sure the motor is setup properly. First take off your right bank valve cover (passenger side) pull #1 plug, crank motor till the #1 piston (very front piston on passenger side) is coming up on compression stroke, you will know this by watching your valves, as the piston is going down the intake valve will start to open, and then start to close as the piston starts to get to the top again. Once the piston reaches top dead center this is the compression stroke, and the rotor button should be pointing to the #1 plug wire in the distributor. If it is pointing to the #6 plug you are 180* out of timing.
Make sure your plug wires are sequenced properly. The firing order for 82 302 is as follows 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 in a counterclockwise rotation.
Why don't you have a bolt on your harmonic balancer?
Another way is to take all the plugs out and this will make it easier to turn the motor by hand, it'll stop the compression from building up in each cylinder.
Hope this helps
Make sure your plug wires are sequenced properly. The firing order for 82 302 is as follows 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 in a counterclockwise rotation.
Why don't you have a bolt on your harmonic balancer?
Another way is to take all the plugs out and this will make it easier to turn the motor by hand, it'll stop the compression from building up in each cylinder.
Hope this helps
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 8,922
Likes: 153
You can put your finger over # 1 plug hole & bump the starter until you feel the compression coming, then stop. The timing marks will be coming up. Turn the motor by hand and line up 0 on the marks & put the dist. in.
You should be able to turn it with a breaker bar. Did you seat the thrust bearing ?
You should be able to turn it with a breaker bar. Did you seat the thrust bearing ?
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Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2004
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I do have a bolt in my harmonic balancer, however the crank pulley covers that up, so I had to take off all of the belts and the crank pulley to get my breaker bar on the bolt. I have finished that, and have gotten my number 1 to TDC. I cranked the engine with the passenger side valve cover off until both valves on number 1 were closed. I then used the trusty hanger wire to tell when it had reached TDC. Then I put my number one wire where the rotor bug was and continued to place my wires in sequence. I called edlebrock and found out that the set screws on my carb are supposed to be 2 rotations out. Mine were three and a half turns each. I set my screws and proceeded to turn the engine over with no luck. It backfired from the carb once and the exhaust twice. Now I'm so aggrivated that I don't want to mess with it anymore until I have a really good idea. Thanks for all the input though.
More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 621
Likes: 2
From: Marana, AZ
"I cranked the engine with the passenger side valve cover off until both valves on number 1 were closed. I then used the trusty hanger wire to tell when it had reached TDC. Then I put my number one wire where the rotor bug was and continued to place my wires in sequence."
First off you can't do it that way. After you bring the #1 piston to TDC on "compression" stroke, the rotor button should be pointing to apprx. 12:00 which is the second plug wire to the right of the hold down clamp on your dizzy cap.(usually has a "1" stamped on it) plus look at your timing mark on the damper and see if the timing mark is close to the pointer, then your sequence goes in counterclockwise rotation for the firing order. If it was pointing to let say 10:00 or 2:00 position and you wired it from that position in the firing order, its not gonna fire right. A backfire thru the carb means there is a open intake valve at the time of firing, exhaust backfires, open exhaust valve when it fires. Here is a diagram of the dizzy cap..
[/img]
Have you visually inspected that the distributor is turning (with the cap off) while you are cranking the motor?
Another question I have is, do you know what cam was put in the motor? Because if a HO cam was used the firing order is different. It would be the same as a 351w.
And a real shot in the dark would be a bad carburetor, maybe causing an extreme lean situation. You could try putting on your old carb and see if it will fire.
But I really think your timing is off and you need to make sure your dead on first before trying other avenues.
First off you can't do it that way. After you bring the #1 piston to TDC on "compression" stroke, the rotor button should be pointing to apprx. 12:00 which is the second plug wire to the right of the hold down clamp on your dizzy cap.(usually has a "1" stamped on it) plus look at your timing mark on the damper and see if the timing mark is close to the pointer, then your sequence goes in counterclockwise rotation for the firing order. If it was pointing to let say 10:00 or 2:00 position and you wired it from that position in the firing order, its not gonna fire right. A backfire thru the carb means there is a open intake valve at the time of firing, exhaust backfires, open exhaust valve when it fires. Here is a diagram of the dizzy cap..
[/img]Have you visually inspected that the distributor is turning (with the cap off) while you are cranking the motor?
Another question I have is, do you know what cam was put in the motor? Because if a HO cam was used the firing order is different. It would be the same as a 351w.
And a real shot in the dark would be a bad carburetor, maybe causing an extreme lean situation. You could try putting on your old carb and see if it will fire.
But I really think your timing is off and you need to make sure your dead on first before trying other avenues.
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Brentwood,CA
Originally Posted by dilbone56
I just finished overhauling the 302 in my 82 F150. I had to have it bored out .04 to clean up the remaining piston in cylinders 2 and 3, went with stock crank, pistons, and cam, went with headers, an edlebrock performer 600cfm carb and intake combo. My question is this: Everything is ready to go, and I turned it over and it backfired through the carb. I realized I'm out on my timing so I tried to put it at TDC and adjust the distributor accordingly. The main problem is that I can't turn the engine over by hand, since there is no center bolt on my crank pulley to turn by, so I'm left to pop the starter a little at a time until it feels like I have it close. I've been fooling with this for two days now and still have yet to get it to fire. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
did you only bore .04 on 2 and 3 and then used the stock pistons?
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