Hey Guys,
I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. I have an 83 F-150 with the 302 5L small block. I currently am having some firing issues. I have the plugs on the distributor cap in the right positions. So with this set up, the engine won't start. It turns, but won't fire. This is where things get interesting. If I move each plug one position clockwise on the cap, the truck fires right up. However, with this set up, there is a loop in the idle. A few times during a test drive, the engine has stalled while I was idling it. When the throttle is open, it runs great. The problem is only in the idle. To narrow things down, I already have a new distributor body/cap, spark plugs, fuel filter, ignition control module and more. I am going to check the timing and see if that helps.

Thank you guys for the help.

Seth

 

Welcome to FTE Seth

Sounds like when the distributor was stabbed into the motor it didn't get clocked quite right. Can move the wires around as you've discovered to compensate. If it will time right it won't matter, but make sure it has enough clearance when you get a light on it.

 

1) Establish correct static timing w/ piston stop and correct balancer markings

NOTE- Check for timing chain stretch at the point also

2) Confirm proper distributor install

3) Confirm proper timing advance feature(s)

4) Check for vacuum leaks

 

Yep, that is all you are doing by moving the wires around, you are changing the timing. It would be just like grabbing the dist and turning it the distance of one terminal.

Of course you are finding out that is getting you in the ballpark, but it's still not right. I think I would leave the wires in the spot where it runs, and then tweak it with a timing light to get it correct. I am afraid if you move the wires back to where they are supposed to be, and then twist the dist that much to bring it in, the vacuum advance can may hit something and you will not be able to twist the dist enough to bring it in.

 

Well the "right" thing to do then is restab the distributor so it's clocked right, put the wires where they belong, and then time it.

 

I am not sure how well he understands the dist and the timing. Timing an engine can be confusing and "magic" to some people. So keeping it simple should make this operation successful. He may not even have a timing light.

And you know if he moves the dist one tooth around, it's not going to go back in without tweaking the oil pump shaft. And I can picture the oil pump shaft sticking in the dist shaft, he pulls it up and it falls down in the engine because someone didn't put the shaft retainer onto the oil pump shaft or the retainer slides off because it's stuck so bad in the dist.

 

Hm... good point... And hates us for all that bad advice. Nah, he wouldn't do that.

 

Hey Guys, thanks for the advice. I was talking with an old friend of my grandfather's today who worked on trucks his whole life. He gave me a piston compression gauge so I could move the crank shaft and be sure of where my #1 plug should be on the cap. From there I will tweak the timing as needed. I would love to reset the shaft but that may be more effort than it is worth if I can get it running without doing so.


Thanks again everyone.

 

"friend of my Grandfathers" Gee,.... we are old......

 

I like to think of it as I'm young and trying to soak in as much info as possible

 

The compression tool is useful when it won't run at all and you are way out of the ballpark on timing. You have it running when you move the wires, so you are in the ballpark, you need a timing light to zero it in to dead on.

 

Good advice already from the crew. Agree re-stabing the dizzy to adjust 1 tooth will cause oil pump drive shaft alignment problems.

It's also possible for the old balancer to slip a little as the rubber center deteriorates with age and this will throw off your timing marks. Somebody else already mentioned a loose sloppy timing chain and that can also cause timing problems.

Not sure if you've got dura-spark ignition but I had an intermittent ignition miss that resolved when I replaced the old horseshoe coil connector.

However, if it runs good but idle is bad I'd look for bad wires, vacuum leaks or maybe EGR not closing completely.

Also check idle mixture, particularly if it idles good cold (with choke on) but bad warm (with choke open).

 

Hey Guys,

Little update. I'm currently building new concrete steps for my grandmother and fixing her leaky roof so I currently don't have the amount of time I would like to work on my truck. However, through the use of the compression tool I did confirm that the distributor rotor was not clocked correctly when it got stabbed in there. It is one click off by a clockwise rotation. As you guys know I figured that out but wanted to confirm. Hopefully I'm going to time it sometime this week/weekend. We will see how school work goes. But keep posting if you have advice, I try to read everyone's post and learn as much as possible.


Seth