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new GM crate motor won't fire....whats wrong

01maroonz71

01maroonz71

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well, we just got it in and hooked up, and wired up. belts are on, fuilds are topped off. i primed the motor for about 10 or 15minutes with the GM priming tool using my drill. it turns over, but won't fire. one thing i did notice is that the choke isn't getting power at the harness(black loom it comes out of) so it's not opening. and that may be my problem.

it has fuel, i can see it going through the filter, and it has spark(hooked up a timing light) it's sparking when the timing tab gets to about 10 degrees BTDC. the motor will spit fuel out of the carb just a tad. the motor sounds like it starts for like 2seconds when you let off the starter, but only running on like 2cylinders if that. could i be 180 out even though the timing tab is lining up????? it's not backfiring at all.

im tried starting it like 5 or 6 times, and don't want to again till i can figure out exactly whats wrong with it.


anybody got a clue???? THANKS!!!!
 
wouldn't it start if it was like a couple degrees out?????
heres how i set it to TDC. i had my buddy turn the motor over by hand till the air pushed my finger off plug hole number one, then i rotated it about 20more degrees till the timing tab lined up, dropped dizzy in so pointer was pointing at the 5 o'clock position, laced it from there.
 
yeah, pretty sure....the fuel filter is a glass one, and i can see it flowing, on top of that...i can see fuel going into the carb.

i will tell you two things though...

when we are removing the old motor, the alt wire touched something before we unhoooked battery(i know, dumb@ss) but it cooked two of the wires coming off the distribution block on teh firewall, well one wire that splits into two, so i spliced two new wires, soldered them, and fixed the cooked wire. everything works good in the truck, radio, wipers, windows,locks, and the dizzy's getting power since the timing light works.


also, i did back the idle screw all the way out(not touching) just in case. would this cause it not to start, im pushing the pedal in when i hit the starter though...it shouldn't matter right??? does the choke need to be open, because using a test light i determined that the choke is getting no power. but the fuse is ok, the wire goes into the loom and it's gonna be a biatch to pull it all out. thanks guys.
~Dave
 
If it's a GM performance crate motor like the 350 or 350HO. Check your distributor...It's most likely 180degrees off. Myself along with a couple other people that I've seen put in these motors have all had the distributors in 180 off. Take it out and spin in and I bet it'll atleast fire now. I don't know if all of them are like the but the 3-4 I've seen were and thats a pretty weird coincidence.
 
mtnman210 said:
If it's a GM performance crate motor like the 350 or 350HO. Check your distributor...It's most likely 180degrees off. Myself along with a couple other people that I've seen put in these motors have all had the distributors in 180 off. Take it out and spin in and I bet it'll atleast fire now. I don't know if all of them are like the but the 3-4 I've seen were and thats a pretty weird coincidence.
Click to expand...

X2, also run a straight wire from the batt to the + on the coil. Have someone crank it while you hold the wire onto the + batt post. If it starts, then you have wiring problems.
 
could it be 180 out even though the timing tab lines up with the pointer perfectly????? is that even possible???? thanks ya'll
~dave
 
Check the firing order of the plug wires also. The first motor I built I did this to. Number one was right but all the others were in a backwards order. So I had spark but not at the right times. Its ok though I was only 18. All teenagers are idiots.:eek1:
 
yeah, i did that years ago. you lean alot of stuff when your younger. like not to use the crank bolt to pull the harmonic dampener on. believe it or not, it doesn't strip the threads, it wipes them completely out!!!!!!:eek1: that wasn't pretty. haha


so ill try swapping the wires 180degrees and see what happens. does the timing tab line up twice, once on compression, and once when it's going down????? thanks.
 
First look down the carb and work the throttle by hand and if you see gas squirt out of the main jets. If you get gas then:

Take a screw driver and wedge it into the carb choke plates to hold them open, then get in push the gas to the floor and crank.


If it still doesn't fire the dizzy is probably 180 out...
 
alrighty...i will try that when i get home. whats weird is that when i bought the plugs they were gapped at 35 and i read that they need to be 45. would that keep the truck from firing???? could the gaps be wrong?
 
alright guys....got it. i wired it up for HEI when it's actually points. duh. one plug off. fired right up with about a 15degree turn of the dizzy. i set it to 10degrees BTDC and it idles real nice, but i noticed through the oil fill hole that no oil is getting to the head. so i shut her down after about 2 minutes. i don't wanna burn my valves up. what would casue this???? im starting a new thread about this.....

thanks for your help guys!!!!
~dave
 
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