So I have a 1987 TBI 350 that i decided to freshen up a bit. I replaced the cap, rotor, wires, and plugs. After i installed them she wouldn't start. So I found tdc by lining the stripe on the balancer with the 0* mark! and verifying that it was in fact tdc on the power stroke by plugging the spark plug hole with a nerf gun bullet and the pressure launched it out when it hit tdc. And It still will not start. If I swap the #4 & 7 wires, it will run....like ass, but it starts and idles. But if I try to drive it it will pop back fire and have no power. I'm at a loss. I need some help!
CK5
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Timing help
- Thread starter usaf_blazer
- Start date
firing order 18436572 rotation is clockwise. Do you have a timing light?
if your indeed timed at 0* it should run ok, 12* BTDC would be much better, but Im not sure what the computer likes?
If it ran ok before doing anything, it must be something you did when changing parts. Did you move the distributor setting?
if your indeed timed at 0* it should run ok, 12* BTDC would be much better, but Im not sure what the computer likes?
If it ran ok before doing anything, it must be something you did when changing parts. Did you move the distributor setting?
I do have a timing light. And when I put the engine at tdc, I pulled the cap to see where the rotor was pointing, and then put the #1 plug wire there. It ran fine before I changed the parts, so I don't know why it won't start when I have it at tdc and all the wires hooked correctly. I reverified the firing order was correct 5 times
check the wires going to the cap, did you use the grounding strap from the old cap to the new one?
Check to be sure the crimped plug ends are indeed making contact with the cap and the plugs and not pushed back into the boots.
Try the old cap again to see if that makes a difference
Check to be sure the crimped plug ends are indeed making contact with the cap and the plugs and not pushed back into the boots.
Try the old cap again to see if that makes a difference
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Likely confused the firing order.
Try rotating the dist counterclockwise a little and see what happens. I'm thinking you're one hole off all around the cap...if it starts, rotate it back to where it was and move all the wires one hole back and try again.
Shouldn't really matter should it? If the #1 plug wire is on the cap where the rotor is pointing to #1 firing as verified by true TDC it should fire #1 and as long as the firing order is correct (he checked it 5 times) it should fire up and run.
Grounding strap?
I also tried moving the firing order around the cap, just in case if it was in fact one terminal off, but no joy there.
Should, but if it's really firing 5 degrees after TDC it might not fire at all. The width of the rotor tip can be the difference maker, as the spark event begins at the first contact, not at the middle of the width of the contact tip. Just throwing stuff out there... 
Which direction were you turning the motor over to find TDC? Turning it by hand or starter?
Clockwise, by hand
OK. If you're 100% on firing order, advance the timing 5-6 degrees and try it. They generally left the factory at zero, but who knows where it was before you removed the cap and wires? It sounds severely retarded to me...perhaps more than the computer can allow for.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Did you actually move the distributor when you did all this initially?
Not initially, but I've moved it in hopes that I could find the sweet spot to get it started
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Ok so timing shouldn't have been an issue initially. And it still didn'tstart. Therefore, you must have ggotten the firing order wrong right out of the gate. Have you actually removed the distributor yet? Or have you only been twisting it?
I had an epiphany as I was going to bed, when I put the spark plug wires on,I was putting them on the cap in a counterclockwise fashion. I'm so dumb, being on duty for 14 hours and then trying to work on your truck is not a good combination
If it was a Pontiac engine,it would have started and ran perfect!...
(I goofed the first time I tuned my GTO up--I knew the firing order was the same as my chevy V8's--but I didn't know until I set the air filter ablaze with a nice backfire when I went to start it--that the Pontiacs distributors rotate counter-clockwise!..
)..I wasted a few hours re-checking the firing order and getting extremely frustrated--till I read in my Motor's manual the little arrow showing the direction of rotation was opposite that of the chevy's!..
I had a 250 straight six in my friends uncle's truck drive me insane--one day he decided to "tune it up" and he tried to advance the timing...till that day it had run fine,other than being a bit sluggish....then,we chased a perplexing stalling issue that suddenly arose,and could not pin down the cause..you'd be going along fine,and it would sometimes just shut off,like you turned the key off-other times it would buck,backfire,then stall out..(like it ran out of fuel,not spark!)..
--we rebuilt the carb,replaced the points,condensor,rotor,cap wires,vacuum advance,ignition coil,and even replaced the wires powering the coil..it still acted the same..might go days,and run perfectly...then DIE for no reason...we even dropped the gas tank to check for ping pong balls (a trick a friend had done to him once,and never could find the cause of the intermittent stalling until he sold the car to someone else!)--no ping pong balls,so back to square one...when it stalled,it still had spark and was getting plenty of fuel too!--we were stumped...
One day the owner got fed up with fooling with the truck,and I had run out of suggestions,so he towed it to a auto repair garage to a old timer he knew wouldn't charge him a lot to figure it out...in 15 minutes the problem was found and corrected--the stupid roll pin holding the distrubutor drive gear on had sheared,and would allow the gear to "slip" out of time--far enough so it would not run,and if you cranked it long enough,it eventually walked around the the "correct" spot and it would fire and run perfect..till it decided to slip again!..guy said "eh,these engines did this sometimes back in the day"...
I probably never would have guessed that was what did it!..it cost 15 cents for a new roll pin...after wasting about 150 bucks of un-needed parts and labor installing them...
(I goofed the first time I tuned my GTO up--I knew the firing order was the same as my chevy V8's--but I didn't know until I set the air filter ablaze with a nice backfire when I went to start it--that the Pontiacs distributors rotate counter-clockwise!..
)..I wasted a few hours re-checking the firing order and getting extremely frustrated--till I read in my Motor's manual the little arrow showing the direction of rotation was opposite that of the chevy's!..I had a 250 straight six in my friends uncle's truck drive me insane--one day he decided to "tune it up" and he tried to advance the timing...till that day it had run fine,other than being a bit sluggish....then,we chased a perplexing stalling issue that suddenly arose,and could not pin down the cause..you'd be going along fine,and it would sometimes just shut off,like you turned the key off-other times it would buck,backfire,then stall out..(like it ran out of fuel,not spark!)..
--we rebuilt the carb,replaced the points,condensor,rotor,cap wires,vacuum advance,ignition coil,and even replaced the wires powering the coil..it still acted the same..might go days,and run perfectly...then DIE for no reason...we even dropped the gas tank to check for ping pong balls (a trick a friend had done to him once,and never could find the cause of the intermittent stalling until he sold the car to someone else!)--no ping pong balls,so back to square one...when it stalled,it still had spark and was getting plenty of fuel too!--we were stumped...
One day the owner got fed up with fooling with the truck,and I had run out of suggestions,so he towed it to a auto repair garage to a old timer he knew wouldn't charge him a lot to figure it out...in 15 minutes the problem was found and corrected--the stupid roll pin holding the distrubutor drive gear on had sheared,and would allow the gear to "slip" out of time--far enough so it would not run,and if you cranked it long enough,it eventually walked around the the "correct" spot and it would fire and run perfect..till it decided to slip again!..guy said "eh,these engines did this sometimes back in the day"...
I probably never would have guessed that was what did it!..it cost 15 cents for a new roll pin...after wasting about 150 bucks of un-needed parts and labor installing them...
I believe we have all been there at one point!
the grounding strap I was talking about is this:
and if you look under the coil, you can see where it fits:
