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I just bought my cutlass and it drove ok but not good so I bought new ignitioncabesl and a distrobutor and change it.
I have change distrubutor HEI to my 455 1976 Cutlass and it won´t start.
I´ve pointed the rotor to the first cylinder and I got spark and fuel.
What about the timing mark, is it the saw line or the dot on the flywheel to check the timing?
Battery is good.
I put some wet toiletpaper in the first cylinder and crank it to find out when the first cylinder is in TDC.
What I´m doing wrong?
I`m from Sweden and I might spell things wrong but hope you understand what I´m meaning.
The firing order for the distributor is as in the picture. Remember the rotor turns anti-clockwise (CCW):
The HEI needs full voltage and can't use the resistance wire that was on your points type coil. You also cannot use the points type ignition timing setting because the HEI has a smaller amount of mechanical advance.
Leave the vacuum advance line off and plugged. If you have it wired as per the diagram above, try advancing the timing while cranking and see if it starts.
I had the HEI before but it seems to be bad so I change it all.
How do I do a new setting of it all from the begining, can`t I use the original timing mark?
Sorry I missed the 76 year on your first post. Use your original timing settings. Look at the picture, your rotor should be pointing to where the "1" on the cap is illustrated when the engine spit out your toilet paper.
Please note, that the distributor does not care which one is wired as #1 as long as the remaining firing order is correct. Where you run into problems is making the wire lengths work.
No problem, mark the distributor housing with a marker where #8 and #1 would be on the cap as per picture. Do your toilet paper thing or just use you finger in the #1 spark plug hole, remove the clamp bolt and pull the distributor out until the rotor turns. Rotate the rotor to where the #8 wire would be and push the distributor back in. It should now be pointing to where you marked #1 on the housing.
The car run good after installing a new distr. but after a burnout it moved a bit and started to go bad so I was an idiot taking the distr. out without marking it up and cranked it.
I´ve got fuel and spark.
I put down the distr. as the description in my original work shop manual.
I make sure with a leak down tester that the valves are cloesed at TDC.
I have 12.7V at the coil.
The plug wires are in right order 18436572.
When cranking it no sign of life.
Can the module in the distr. be broken eventhou I got spark?
What am I doing wrong, aaaaaahhhhhhhh.
Yes I was an idiot taking the distr. out without marking it out.
1. find and confirm TDC of #1 cylinder (front Left), on compression stroke.
2. Install distributor with rotor pointing roughly in the direction of the #1 cylinder, as pictured.
This has nothing to do with anything important, but will allow all of the wires to reach their intended distributor terminals if they are cut to their standard lengths.
3. Attach spark plug wires to distributor cap in the order indicated in the illustrations, starting with #1, and proceeding COUNTER-clockwise to 8, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7, and 2.
Remember that cylinders are numbered front-to-rear, with even on the Right side and odd on the Left side (different from Ford numbering).
4. Attach timing light and watch it while you have a partner crank the engine - rotate the distributor until it is around 0°-5° BTDC, then tighten lightly, then re-adjust your timing once the car is running and warmed up.
Thats a points distributor diagram. See post #2 for the HEI. The difference is where the proper #1 wire placement goes. Again as I explained earlier in this thread, the distributor does not care as long as its wired correctly with the rotor pointing to #1 at tdc.
I never realized that HEI stuck the #1 terminal way in the back. How odd.
Either way, as you say, so long as the order is correct and the wires reach, and the distributor has enough rotation to be able to set the timing, it will work.
I´ve just found a trick to find out real TDC, took and old spark plug and modifyed it so there were a bolt in it and crankt by hand to pistons highest top and then rev it back so the piston hit the bolt and then marked it inbetween the topmarks.
I blew some air with the compressor in the spark plug hols and there might be a little wet there so I´ll wait till tomorrow to trying to start it.
But when I put the wet toiletpaper in the plug hole and crank it till it blows out, is´t that on the compression stroke?
Accroding to the manual after finding TDC they say align timingmark to 0 and when I do that I take a screwdriver and put it in the hole and feels the piston is on it´s way back down, is the right?
I have just separeted with my ex. and moved far away from her so I don´t now anybody out here yet and have to do Everything by myself, it´s the countryside of my Town.
I relly appriciate all the help you giving me, thanks alot.
I have just separated with my ex. and moved far away from her so I don´t now anybody out here yet and have to do Everything by myself, it´s the countryside of my Town.
Well, you're not going to find any women out there (unless you're James Bond).
... Of course, maybe you're better off that way...
Originally Posted by Goldenhand
... when I put the wet toiletpaper in the plug hole and crank it till it blows out, is´t that on the compression stroke?
It should be. It doesn't spit the paper out on the next 360°, right?
Originally Posted by Goldenhand
Accroding to the manual after finding TDC they say align timingmark to 0 and when I do that I take a screwdriver and put it in the hole and feels the piston is on it´s way back down, is the right?
Not really.
The "0" should be exactly at the top of the stroke, and there is at least 10° of rotation on either side of it where you will not be able to feel perceptible piston movement.
The best way of confirming TDC is with a dial indicator, or with a spark plug / bolt TDC-finder, such as you have made up - you adjust it to stop the piston as close to the top as possible, mark the balancer, reverse direction, mark the balancer, and TDC is exactly in between your two marks.
If the "0" point is NOT at this point, then it is likely that the outer ring of the harmonic balancer has slipped, which will cause the markings to be completely meaningless, and will mean that you need to use your own measurements.
If the balancer has slipped, then it will continue to move, so any marks you make on it will be meaningless once the engine starts, so if it has slipped, you will need to get a new one.
There ain´t no James Bonding here and I could´t care less but there is a got damn good charming man with a V8 and that should be good enough for a decent woman;-).
What´s fun is I talked to a mechanic today and he have never ever heard of a wrong timed balancer.
But when I do it with the stopper it shows really wrong so I still belive the rubber has gone bad.
I´ll try finding a new one but car should start anyway or atleast cough or something.
Its not that complicated, make sure that the rotor is pointing in the vicinity of the #1 plug after finding tdc. Make sure that when you reinstall the distributor you have clearance to move it in either direction for adjustment.
I need a couple of Days of so I can refocus on the problem.
I´m doing it like you all say and by the book, trying diffrent solutions but I must miss something so I have to do it all over again.
Took a couple of weeks of but I did´t help, zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
I was pulling the distrubutor out and look in the hole and there where an old gasket laying in the bottom.
I took it up and thought it would start but no, spark got better thou.
One question, is there suppose to be a gasket between dist. and block otherwise then the o-ring on the distr.
A friend of mine will show up in the near two week and help me.
I just want to thanks all for the help I got.
The problem was the new distrubitor I bougth, it got spark but I thought it was to weak and called the Company where I bougth it and they said it´s working propertly.
I did buy a new one from the same company and pulled it in yesterday and it just fires up right away.
... Of course, now we get to the point where we repeat that replacing factory parts with new parts does not guarantee that you are replacing them with GOOD parts.
