distributor issues

[scott85]

Hi, i have an 85 chevy, 350, pretty stock. last week my rig wouldnt start. the wires in the pickup were broken off. so, i changed the distributor to an old one my brother had laying around. i put it in, plugged the wires in, and started it up. it ran perfect, except for one minor detail. it was hard to start. it sounded like the starter would hang up for a split second, and then the truck would start up. i never got a chance to get a timing light on it. i assumed (big mistake) that the starter was no good, so, i changed it. Same problem. okay, i then decided that maybe that old distributor was no good, so i bought a new one. well ps, that didnt do the trick either. i got the truck to start and i would retard it, same condition, then i advanced it, still same thing. what am i missing here?

 

[adamforsythe]

The truck is to far advanced, Try retard the engine a little.
See what I do on my 350 is I will get the truck running then I would advanced the timming so the truck will start to ping then I would back it off a little intell the pinging stopped.
Thanks
Adam

Hi, i have an 85 chevy, 350, pretty stock. last week my rig wouldnt start. the wires in the pickup were broken off. so, i changed the distributor to an old one my brother had laying around. i put it in, plugged the wires in, and started it up. it ran perfect, except for one minor detail. it was hard to start. it sounded like the starter would hang up for a split second, and then the truck would start up. i never got a chance to get a timing light on it. i assumed (big mistake) that the starter was no good, so, i changed it. Same problem. okay, i then decided that maybe that old distributor was no good, so i bought a new one. well ps, that didnt do the trick either. i got the truck to start and i would retard it, same condition, then i advanced it, still same thing. what am i missing here?

 

[scott85]

update

thanks for the advice. i hope i get to use it! LOL.....i decided to start over, because something just didnt seem right to me. so i found tdc, and i noticed that the rotor was not pointing at #1. so i pulled it out, messed with the oil pump gear and put it back in. by this time though the starter was pretty well fried. i still dont know if it works right, maybe this week. i hope....

 

[R72K5]

hell could jus tbe bad starter then yep

but otherwise that delay slow cranking would be due to over advanced initial timing

turn the dizzy housing clockwise a little til it fires right up in split second

if carb is in good shape that is,

 

[scott85]

okay here's a new twist. a friend of mine asked me if maybe my timing chain jumped a tooth. could that have happened?

 

[dyeager535]

Only GM I've ever seen with a HORRIBLE timing chain (nylon basically gone off the sprocket) the car would start, and immediately die. Pull distributor, reset somewhere else (trial and error) and it would start and die again.

Once we took the timing chain cover off, you could tell what the issue is.

*IMO* if the timing teeth are bad enough to "jump" in the first place, it will not stop at one tooth, it will just keep slipping.