What Did I Do?

[RockyRider13]

So I decided that I wanted to check the condition and gap of my spark plugs. I take them out, clean them. They look good except the #1 and #3 had a little oil build up. While I was at it, I decided that I would re-torque my intake manifold to make sure that it was down tight. I ended up turning a few bolts about a 1/2 turn more. Then I decided that I would take off all of my plug wires and length-match them to each cylinder. I got the order confused, it started but back fired badly. The next day I got home from school and tried to get the order right again. I finally got it to run without backfiring, but my #1 cylinder used the point one position counter-clockwise from the bottom-right point that the haynes book told me to use. Finially, I have the car running, it seems to be actually running a little bit smoother, but it was pulsating. I stopped the car, popped the hood, and moved the wires away from the vaccum on the cruise control. I got going again and IT RAN SMOOTHER THAN IT EVER HAD BEFORE. Not only that, but it was quicker, and quiter. However, I did notice a slight oil smell.
by now, for those who have had the stamina to complete this post, my question to you is what are your theories about what I did to my k5 to make it run better, adn what are the side effects.

 

[zakk]

maybe screwed with the advance? or pushed a wire an that was a bit loose.

 

[Danno]

Bad wires? could you have been arcing to ground somewhere through a crack in the insulation?

 

[NoSmog73]

check out this post and If you did it like the book you need to move the wires on the cap one spot counterclock wise...mike
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=blazer4x4&Number=315903&page=&view=&sb=&o=

 

[RockyRider13]

It was running before, just it was kinda rougher and louder. Before I messed w/ it, at stoplights my passenger seat would vibrate a lot, now it barely twitches. My thought that maybe my intake manifold had a slight leak, or that my wires were not pushed all of the way down. I didn't move the distributor around, and i re-used the plugs and wires.

 

[NoSmog73]

Sorry I missed the whole intake thing ...but in reply to this....
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I got the order confused, it started but back fired badly

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That sounded like what happened to me on the plug wires when I put them back on according to the book..If I did it by the book it was backfiring and not running so I moved them one spot and it fired right up....sorry ....mike

 

[Blazer_Boy]

First off, who cares what Haynes says. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif If you are concerned with making sure your motor is on #1, then here's what you do. Take out all the plugs and have a buddy stick there finger in #1. Keep bumping the motor until the feel a big woosh. Don't its a not that big of a woosh of air. Then crawl under your truck and muscle your damper around until the notch in it is lined up with the timing mark that says 0. You now are on TDC for #1, your rotor should point to the lower drivers corner, right where the #1 plug wire goes on the cap....

Anyways, its fine, but it looks like a know more if I ramble longer /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif. You probably had a bum wire that had a cut and was grounding out on something. New set of MSD superconductor wires will fix that. If you wanna liven things up, then lets play with your advance. Take off your rotor and look at the springs and weights. The spot where the wieghts maybe worn and throwing things off. Take out those weights and center plate and buy a Mr. Gasket performance curve kit. Use the light spring and medium spring. I'd dump the vacuum advance for a milder unit, like 15 degrees. Then run your initial timing at 10 degrees before TDC. I'd also use manifold vacuum instead of ported. Have your motor running and unplug the advance, if it starts running rough, then its hooked to direct vacuum. If it stays running smooth then its hooked to ported vacuum. With ported vacuum, when you drop the hammer engine vacuum falls and the vacuum advance starts to move. With manifold vacuum, you drop the hammer and engine vacuum falls and so does your vacuum advance. This is better because you now have faster moving springs which bring mechanical advance when you get on it and don't need all that vacuum advance anymore. If you run ported with those faster wiehgts, than your motor will big when you're rodding it because its get a TON of advance now. I know it sounds confusing but vacuum advance is just for economy and mechanical is where the real action happens. Thats why you never see super hi-po distributor with a vacuum advance.

At the least I'd recommend greasing up the weights you have now.