I don't see how we got off on the timing chain. Sounds to me like they just flooded that engine. Most likely a tune up will take care of it.

 

well like i said before we got it running. It doesnt run very good but it is enough to get him around for now. He is actually moving to Japan in a month so his intentions were to get it running and sell it before it quits running again. Thanks for the advice. I personally feel that it is the timing chain. Also it has an HEI. The ignition system is all new. About 4 months ago it stop giving off spark so we kept replacing part after part until it sparked again.

 

It was running fine, then all of a sudden while driving it lost some drivability, then wouldn't start again until they change the timing.

 

Well it's clear that they aren't going to follow through, but before I started replacing parts, I think a little more diagnosis would be in order. Compression test to start.

 

Started the thread with "great compression", so we all would figure he tested it. No? Also think that if it were just flooded, that would have worked its' way out during the on going trouble he has had. Flooding wouldn't be a on going problem unless there was something else causing it.

Take a socket wrench (most people don't have a crank socket/want to pull the balancer), and turn the engine back and forth with the dizzy cap off, there should be very little to no play - or delay when reversing direction. If there is, it's a timing chain, or cam/dizzy gear. The light will work to, but without one, this will also give an indication.

 

With a timing light, you can look for wandering/unsteady timing when the engine is running at around 1,500 rpm; it's a real quick and dirty test of the health of the timing chain/cam sprocket. Such wander is usually caused by a worn timing chain/cam sprocket (SB chevy). How it wanders is the tipoff. The last SB chev that I saw jump a timing chain jumped two teeth and was still running, but backfiring occasionally out the carb. I've also seen these engines develop so much wear in the timing chain and shed so much of the nylon off of the cam sprocket that the timing chain actually wore a hole through the side of the timing chain cover .

 

bterry:

Your test for the chain is good. Acceptable wear would be indicated by 3 - 5 degrees of crank rotation to reverse the distributor rotors motion.

On the other hand, if the chevy had chain jump, all cylinders would show low compression because if the intake closes early, the cylinder does not compress a full gulp of air. Also if the intake valve closes late, as the piston rises from BDC it will be pushing air back out the intake valve resulting in the cylinder compressing less than a full cylinder of air.

If my intuition were that the chevy had 'jumped time' then I would probably first try your test.

But my intuition was that the chevy probably had more than one minor problem like marginal ignition and funky carburator and they had simply flooded the thing and fouled the plugs. This is somewhat supported by the fact that all they did was to clean the plugs to get it running. That they jacked the distributor around may have had little or no effect. His words, "it doesn't run very good" are not highly descriptive of the symptoms so I opt for testing the compression because it is revealing of a number of problems which makes it a high value test. No offense intended, but these guys don't pretend to be pros, they are just trying to get this old chevy running, so if I discounted his initial description of "great compression," pardon me for taking this as an impression rather than the result of a compression test.

 

actually guys i have a compression gauge and we used it and it has great compression. the problem with the truck is the carburater, it is a quadrajet. but like i said he doesnt care about getting it perfect because is moving and wants to sell it. he only bought the truck for $800 and wants to get $700 out of it. If it were my vehicle then there would be more diagnosis and testing. I just leave him be and when he has a question or needs a tool i will get involved. Yesterday he had his buddy tweek the carb a little bit and it is running better but not perfect. And the reason i asked about the timing jump was because i have little knowledge in that area. Thanks again for the help.

 

Check the firing order, might have a cross wire on the spark plug wires.