Unable to Fire up Motor

[AndyMenon]

Is the distributor grounded internally? Coil wires hooked up correctly from ignition switch/12 volts-negative to distributor? Engine/battery grounded properly? Has the timing gears been changed and installed correctly? Jumped time?

Fuel, fire, compression is all it takes to run, but MUST be done in the correct order. You said it was only firing on #1 cylinder. Are the other wires /plugs firing? If not, then cap/rotor is bad, cracked, or something not working correctly in the distributor. Take cap and rotor off, look at distributor while cranking over and see what you see. Shaft turning, reluctor turning, loose/pinched wires? Hole burned in rotor, cap cracked?

The only thing that I can think of causing it to spit back thru the carb is timing. Refer back to first sentence.

I have cranked many an engine in the bone yard without a carb on it to see if they passed mustard to yank out

It looks more and more like a timing issue. To your other questions:

• There is a solid 2-Gauge battery cable running to the Engine from the battery negative.
  
• There is a solid 2-Gauge battery cable running to the starter.
  Meaning, the grounding is absolute! No short cuts.

• Fuel confirmed reaching the carb. I have a couple of see-through fuel filters one before the fuel pump, and another before the Carb
• Distributor/Coil/Wires are all brand new.
  
• Shaft rotates when I crank (my earlier post yesterday)
• I don't think the other plugs are firing. They are wet, and don't show evidence of firing. Again, a previous post with some pics attached.

thanks
Andy

 

[AndyMenon]

You mentioned a new Harmonic balance....it isn't a 350 H. B., is it?

I bought it specifically for a V305. I remember that I had to call in to order it.

 

[AndyMenon]

The electric choke is supposed to get hot, theres a bimetal spring in there as it heats up, it opens the choke blade. It doesn't depend on motor temp.....
I would not trust a harmonic balancer, do it the old finger method, then glance at the mark on the balancer and the pointer. If its close, yes, just to get the motor started. If you got spark, and fuel, she ought to start. IF, and I repeat, IF, the valves are adjusted correctly. The lifters have probably leaked down by now. Do you know how to adjust hydraulic lifters? They are different than mechanical lifters.
I'm not gonna spend the time here on the boards telling you how this should be done, look in your repair book for the motor you are using how to do it. This is something you have to careful about, you can mess the valves up if done incorrectly.

Remember, take your time. And do it right. Also, do you have fresh fuel in the tank?
Remember, tdc or about 12 before like bruce said, rotor pointing toward #1 dist. tower w/#1 wire, should be able to squirt a touch of fuel into the carbs throat, and she should light off....if the spark is there and if the valves are adjusted correctly.
Are you running a HEI? What brand? Stock also? Be doubly sure you have a good hot spark!

I will look at the Hydraulic lifters, and see if they need any adjustments.
Fresh fuel went in last Saturday. Never kept the car loaded with fuel unless I wanted to positively start it. This again for reasons of safety.
Yep, I will need to test the spark intensity.

thanks,
Andy

 

[AndyMenon]

OK, hold the phone, here. You're chasing 87 different problems at one time and that is never going to do anything but frustrate you. The temperature of the bi-metal coil in your automatic choke has absolutely nothing to do with why the engine is backfiring through the carburetor. The backfire can only be caused by incorrect valve timing or incorrect ignition timing, so set all these other issues aside for the time being.

You said this was a running engine, but I also see you mention aligning the marks on the cam and crank gears in Post #30. Which means this wasn't a running engine.

So let's stop rushing headlong, here, and go back to square one.

Did you, in fact, have this engine apart, or did you pull a running engine out of one vehicle and swing it into your T-Bucket, with no other changes?

Or, did you have the engine apart?

The reason I am asking is if you did have the engine apart and you did align the pips on the cam gear and the crank gear (i.e. cam gear mark down and crank gear mark up), then you actually had the #6 cylinder at TDC and ready to fire. So if you installed your distributor at that point, aligning the rotor with the #1 post in the cap, then you were installing it 180° out of phase. Please, pull the #1 spark plug and hold your thumb over the plug hole, whilst rotating the engine to TDC. When compression blows your thumb off, pull the distributor cap and check rotor alignment. If that is correct, then it sounds like you have some valves adjusted too tight,

It was a running motor that the person I knew pulled out from a truck he was using . He later sold that truck which is now being used for racing.
The harmonic balancer had rubber that had hardened . So got me a new one, trashed the old one.
I noticed that a push rod was slightly bent. Swapped out a complete new set.
And that is when I adjusted the valves.
And I am still looking for that pic I took when I aligned the timing marks. It's in my back up drive somewhere in my office. I will need to do some digging.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Mike]

OK, but that doesn't answer my questions. Let me be more specific with the questions, in an effort to get specific answers. Don't get side-tracked with things like what the donor vehicle is being used for, as that has no bearing on the issue at hand.

Did you have the engine apart, other than replacing pushrods and the harmonic balancer?

Did you have the timing cover off?

Did you have the distributor out of the engine?

Let's start with those questions and move forward from there.

 

[BRUCE DYDA]

Push rods just dont bend by themselves, they need help

 

[Francis Blake]

I agree with Mike either the cam timing is off or the rocker arms are to tight, or both.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Hahaha....We're all over the map on this one, we got 1 bent pushrod, only 1 cylinder firing, a bunch of if's and some maybe's.
Mike, I think we need to have a Motor Starting check list here for people to print out and check off on, that way we don't have all this shotgun effect stuff going on.
If, after they check off on this list, and things aren't happening....we more or less know the basics have been taken care of....

R0nnie Sox once walked up and asked me 'Whats Wrong with it?' I just shook my head, laughed and said, 'Damn things broke....'

 

[Screaming Metal]

The firing order represents what I have here. In fact the initial pic I sent also indicates that although I took the picture from the P-side. Here it is once more. Also if you look at it closely the boots have been numbered.

View attachment 8404

About the timing mark, I remember very clearly that when I got the motor, and put in a new Harmonic balancer, and set the crank to TDC, the #1 cylinder had both valves closed indicating compression when sparking.

Also, I remember undoing all the rocker arm nuts, releasing the pressure on the camshaft. And then I aligned the timing marks on the cam shaft and crank before I started adjusting the valves.
But I have to double check the direction in which I rotated the crank when I did it.

Lastly, recalling some of the things I did, I changed all the push rods. This was back in the summer of 2010, quite a while ago.

Thanks much!

Well....I'm at a loss for words.....hahaha.....

 

[Joe-405]

Just for the hell of it put number one plug wire where number 2 is and try it.

Also give me the block number on the back of the block to the passenger side of the distributor. (in some slim case you have something other than a 305 there is your problem) a 305 balancer is straight up and the others are at 2 o clock.

 

[jimbo01]

I've been following this thread and wow. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next sequence of events.

 

[Screaming Metal]

I've been following this thread and wow. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next sequence of events.

You get the Popcorn,or Peanuts, I'll get the beer....think we can sell tickets?

 

[Ttownbucket]

I'm dying to know what the problem is. My money is on the timing.

 

[GAB]

Pull the plugs and squirt a couple of shots of oil in each cylinder and reinstall the plugs. Crank it up. Between the motor sitting for some time and the fire up attempts, you have washed down the cylinder walls and lost your compression. I've seen this happen several times. Easy to try/

 

[Joe-405]

I just hope he gets it started while he still has hair left. I wish 1 person could talk to him on the phone cause from experience alot of people can and will make it worse.

I have an ipad or phone with video chat, This would probably be the easiest way due to someone else could see it live and give input on the subject.


P.S. I actually thought about driving to you ............. Until i mapped it ! Your 1658 miles away and straight through is 25 hours with current traffic.

 

[Screaming Metal]

You'd think we'd have a member somewhere close that would be able to help him....
The Planets are probably in alignment again....

 

[RPM]

You'd think we'd have a member somewhere close that would be able to help him....
The Planets are probably in alignment again....

Close, it is a full moon!

 

[railroad]

What do you mean the distributor is in the front. Just joking. I know something like this is frustrating and if the motor is sound we can get him going.

 

[old round fart]

If he has a front mounted distributor in his Chevy motor, it's going to take some REAL troubleshooting to get this puppy fired up! LOL

 

[Francis Blake]

I saw on power block tv that one company (i don't remember who) offers a timing chain cover with a new cam that moves the dizzy to the front