Wrong firing order?? 370 4v
 

We got a ford f700 boom truck. It's a 1978. Sticker on the valve cover say's it's a 370 4valve, big holly on her too. She fired up but seemed to have a miss a bit. So today i thought i would look and see if the firing order was off or something. I found the firing order on the intake. it was 1 5 4 2 6 3 7 8. Well, that is not what the wires were on. It was way off?? So i put them as the intake showed. One is marked on the distribtor. Well it wouldn't start. Backfire and all. Humm?? I found another thread that said 1 3 7 2 6 5 4 8, differant then what was on the intake. And it say's stamped in it "firing order" and the 15426378. What is the firing order for this motor?

earthman

I'm not familiar with that motor but I am running a 351W in my truck. Since there is a huge selection of cam profiles for the 302 and not a great selection for the 351, I am running a cam that is actually made for the 302. To do this I have to run the firing order from the 302 and not the "correct" one for the windsor. Is it possible that someone did a similar cam swap that changes your firing order? I don't know, just a thought.

Yup, 15426378. It's a 385 series, brother to the 429/460. I'd get it to tdc on number one and re-stab the dizzy. I'd be willing to bet it's a little off.

Is there an actual reason why Ford (and other companies) just didn't put a 400, 390, 460 and etc engine in the medium duty trucks with the proper cam profile for the application and call it a day. The odd ball displacement engines never made any sense to me.

When we got this old beast, and by the way, it's a 60 foot boom truck. Was told when he got it that it was locked up. He got it cheap enough. we got it here and it wasnt locked up but i used and old trick of putting trans-fluid in each cylinder to free um up, then crankin it over and let it all blow out the plug holes and losin the motor and save the rings. Worked great. Put the plugs back in and pored gas in the carb and "Boom", she fired up. lol. The pump is not workin, the carborater pump that is. Need a holley rebuild kit. But she ran. Worked the boom and all worked but a little miss. Made me wonder if a plug wire might be wrong. So i looked around and there it was on the intake infront of the holley. Should be right i thought. So i looked at the cap and on the cap its show number One. It was on 1 so i went counter clock and man, none seemed right. so i just took um off and put them on as the intake showed. Wouldn't start and popped in the carb too. ???? So i came to the house and googled and found this fourm and a differant firing order possiblity. Tried it and it tryed to start but the carb does need to attention, lol. I'm puzzled. The intake seems wrong. It's a 4valve engine, maybe it is differant. Hope someone might be able to help. :'(

thanks
earthman

4 valve? you must mean 4 barrel (sometimes written as 4V). Obviously the way the wires were originally were pretty close since it would run, just with a miss (may a couple wires were wrong)

i should have known better, 4 valve. lol. I'm just going to have to do the top dead center check. then go from there. thanks for all the help here, many thanks.

earthman

Using a 2V or 4V was a designation ford used which meant 2 barrel or 4 barrel. Why they chose a "V" is beyond me. Probably because it was a given the engine had 2 valves per cylinder in most big 3 engines back then. I knew what the OP was referring to.

"V" = venturi.

I have always been a chevy guy. Chevy has number one cylinder in the front then number two is on the other side and so on with 7 and 8 in the rear on both sides. My friend said the ford's number one is on the passenger side with 2 3 4 all on the same side?? Is ford like that? 1 thru 4 on the same side and 5 thru 8 on the driver's side?. If so no wonder it wouldnt start, lol. How are the cylinder's numbered on this 370?

earthman

Typical Chevy:-X19

Direct from Haynes:
http://i53.tinypic.com/ev3u60.jpg