cant get car to start

thatguy32567 · January 5th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Ok so my car(1971 olds cutlass s) was sputtering a little bit and found out it was the exhaust so i replaced the donuts. Then some spark plug wires werent firing so i replaced those and the spark plugs. When i was replacing the wires i forgot to write down which wires went to which connector on the distributor and now it wont start. It turns over but wont start up. Ive looked up the different ways they go and some say clockwise and some say counter clockwise. Well i have tried both and still now luck. Some body please explain whats going on.

dan2286 · January 5th, 2009, 10:40 PM

Oldsmobile distributors turn counter clockwise. Did you check and see if you are getting spark?

joe_padavano · January 6th, 2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguy32567

Ok so my car(1971 olds cutlass s) was sputtering a little bit and found out it was the exhaust so i replaced the donuts. Then some spark plug wires werent firing so i replaced those and the spark plugs. When i was replacing the wires i forgot to write down which wires went to which connector on the distributor and now it wont start. It turns over but wont start up. Ive looked up the different ways they go and some say clockwise and some say counter clockwise. Well i have tried both and still now luck. Some body please explain whats going on.

As noted, counterclockwise with the firing order 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Obviously the no 1 plug needs to be in the post of the distributor cap that is contacted by the rotor when the no. 1 cylinder is at TDC. Since the car ran before, I can't imagine that this is anything major. I'm sure the wires are just not installed properly.

thatguy32567 · January 6th, 2009, 02:42 PM

Thanks so much for your guys help
all the firing order diagrams on the internet were all wrong so when i did what you guys said it started right up

))
but now when i take it for a drive and give it gas it basically idles for about 2-3 seconds before it gets going and it never use to do that.

Oldsguy · January 7th, 2009, 06:05 AM

Did you re-connect the vacuum to the advance actuator on the distributor?

January 5th, 2009, 09:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
thatguy32567 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 29	cant get car to start Ok so my car(1971 olds cutlass s) was sputtering a little bit and found out it was the exhaust so i replaced the donuts. Then some spark plug wires werent firing so i replaced those and the spark plugs. When i was replacing the wires i forgot to write down which wires went to which connector on the distributor and now it wont start. It turns over but wont start up. Ive looked up the different ways they go and some say clockwise and some say counter clockwise. Well i have tried both and still now luck. Some body please explain whats going on.

January 7th, 2009, 06:05 AM	#5 (permalink)
Oldsguy Hot Rodder at heart Administrator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lees Summit MO Posts: 5,799	Did you re-connect the vacuum to the advance actuator on the distributor? __________________ Dan '77 Cutlass Supreme '46 2 door "The rocket 455.....it's a sledgehammer approach to a thumbtack world" LuxBlue of HAMB.

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January 5th, 2009, 10:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
dan2286 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: North Ridgeville, Ohio Posts: 382	Oldsmobile distributors turn counter clockwise. Did you check and see if you are getting spark?

January 6th, 2009, 02:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
thatguy32567 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 29	Thanks so much for your guys help all the firing order diagrams on the internet were all wrong so when i did what you guys said it started right up )) but now when i take it for a drive and give it gas it basically idles for about 2-3 seconds before it gets going and it never use to do that.