when someone says to point it to #1, they are referring to that plug wire basically. whatever terminal is the one that goes to cylinder #1 is what you point to. also, the crank spins twice to every single rotation of the cam. so its possible if you get the #1 to TDC, line the rotor to #1, and it still doesnt start its possible it is on the TDC of the exhaust stroke and not the compression stroke. turn the crank 360 degrees and bring it back to TDC (cam has only spun 180) of the compression stroke and realign the rotor to #1 and it should then start.

 

Yes it is
.[/quote]I always thought the rotor had to be pointed to the #1 piston.[/quote]
incorrect.

 

What they said. You only have one coil generating spark. It feeds this spark to the middle of the dist cap, and the rotor points this spark to the correct cylinder at the correct time. You want the rotor to point the spark to the #1 wire that goes to the #1 cylinder when #1 cylinder is ready to fire the mixture(pressure on the thumb trick). Also find the firing order and make sure as the rotor goes around, that your wires are in order of the firing order.

 

That makes total sense too! I know for sure when i stabbed the dist. the rotor was pointing to the #1 Piston and the #1 Terminal was facing towards the other side of the engine block.

So what I need to do is turn my engine back to Top Dead Center...as described above by removing the spark plug and so on. Then remove my dist. and re stab it with my rotor pointing towards the #1 terminal on the dist cap...which my cap is labeled which one should be #1 terminal.


I think this would be causing my weak spark...??? Or am I incorrect in that assumption?

 

When I was doing this I found it easier to get the mark near TDC with a remote starter. Then, just fine tuned it to the correct position. Another thing about feeling the air pushing out of the plug hole is that there is a significant difference between the compression and exhaust stroke.

The exhaust stroke sort of 'burped' a little air out so I was at first confused. However, when the compression came along it blew my finger clear off the hole. I wasn't confused after that!

 

It won't effect the power of your spark, It'll probably run with the spark you're getting once you get it timed right

 

Thanks guys for all your help! I really appreciate it. I am going to try and pull the dist. tonight and see if i can re-stab it. Not sure I will have time with my work schedule, but I hope so. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again.

 

Okay guys, let me catch you up....I got home and was very excited to try and fix this issue. I set Piston #1 back to top dead center. When rotating the engine there was a difference in the air when I was top dead center, or 180 out. So I am pretty sure I was top dead center, or really close...meaning I didnt know when to stop turning her, in the middle? at the end of the pressure? So anyways pulled the dist....which was a pain in the *** trying to get to that damm bolt. My #1 terminal on the dist. cap was located facing piston 5, so i rotated the rotor around till it was facing the the #1 terminal and tried to drop it back in......Yes, tried. She would not go flush back into the engine. No matter how much i wiggled and jiggled. She sat about 1/8" to 3/16" above the engine, which was to high to get the dist. clip on. Come to find out I was only able to get the dist. to sit flush when it was pointed at PISTON #1 OR 180 degress from that.

So I tried it at 180 degrees from piston #1....and I get backfire now...no starting, lots of turning over and some soft backfire...which i was not getting before.

I checked the spark once all back together and she is slightl, ever so slightly a darker orange.

Thoughts?

Thanks for all your help...I am a lost puppy on this...

 

well, not really sure what your problem could be because I really havent worked on these old trucks much, or any V8 really for that matter besides maintenance... mostly I play with import 4 cylinders where the dist just pops in through the side of the valve cover and the back meshes with some grooves in the cam itself and theres ONLY one way that dist is going in.

however I do know that if you did indeed have the no 1 piston at TDC on the compression stroke, you then need to have the rotor pointing at the #1 terminal. it might not point DIRECTLY at it though, depending on how perfectly you hit TDC, or how the dist is set around its shaft (or whatever the hell it is that moves when you time it) it could point just before or just after the terminal and be at the correct spot.

 

oh, and if you cant see the timing marks and line it up with the crank pulley to know you are at TDC exactly. put something down the plug hole but make sure its something with a really soft end just in case and clean as well so nothing ends up scratching the poston or falling into the cylinder. and then turn the engine over with a wrench until the (whatever you put in the cylinder) is at its highest point, right as it starts to drop, turn back just a bit to get back to TDC and it should be REAL close to perfect.

 

Sounds like you are 180 out for sure. What you need to do is line it up properly again, that last bit it wouldn't drop in is the oil pump drive. The trick to that is to slowly turn the crank by hand once the distributor is sitting that little bit above seated while lightly pressing down on the distributor body, it'll drop right into place once the oil pump drove lines up without affecting the timing.

 

Like someone else said, when you feel the pressure for the cylinder with yor thumb, start looking down at the harmonic balancer and bring it up to around the 10 BTDC mark and stop.


You can turn the engine like was mentioned, or you can pull the dist back out, take a nut driver or a small socket with a extension, reach down in the dist hole and turn the oil pump shaft a little bit, then try again. You will eventually get it to seat all the way.

 

Do yourself a huge favor and go to your local Advance Auto Parts and buy a set of distributor wrenches. Best $6 I spent on the distributor project so far!

 

When setting a Distributer NEVER NEVER turn the motor backwards ... Slop in the gears/chain will get it off time.

To set a distributer.

1. Remove Spark Plug #1
2. Place finger/thumb over #1 spark plug hole.
3. Bump motor over until you feel strong air pressure from #1 cylinder.
4. HAND turn motor to TDC according to Harmonic Balancer and ZERO on pointer.
   • WARNING!! If you go past TDC rotate motor TWO FULL revolutions back to TDC
   • DO NOT ROTATE MOTOR BACKWARDS!
5. Point the rotor to just before #1 wire on Distributer cap. (one tooth before)
6. Set distributer.
   • OIL PUMP SHAFT, If the distributer does not set home, Pull it back out and rotate the oil pump shaft a little.
   • Looking at the distributer oil pump drive and oil pump drive shaft to align each other.
   • Repeat until distributer sets home.
7. Once set, If it's not pointing right at #1 wire on distributer cap, pull and rotate 1 tooth.
   • You may need to repeat oil pump shaft steps.
8. Replace distributer hold down, cap, plugs, wires.
9. Verify everything is hooked up correctly.
10. Start motor and use timing light to set timing.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Im guessing this is in response to what I said, so I just wanted to ask something. the way I was saying to turn it over until the piston has pushed whatevers in the plug hole the highest, and to turn back if you went to far. it should only be the tiniest fraction of a turn of the crank, so even though slop in the chain could change it, wouldnt it be such a small amount of slop that the dist would go right into the correct groove so that when you turn it over a couple times and bring it back to TDC to check and make sure its set right, it would be in the right spot.