The #5 & #8 wires were crossed... It DID feel like it was missing on a cylender... Anyway I got away with just a $20 "Stupid tax".

 

im sure everyone on the boards has a story like that, i know i have a few where i swear i was retarded.

 

better a $20 ding to you pride, than a $2000 ding to you wallet

 

Yup, that's a frequent problem with v8's. Those import 4 banger guys don't know how easy they've got it. Too bad their aftermarket cams cost upwards of $700 not including hardware . Divide by 10 and I've got a new cam, divide that by 7 and I bought an Lt1 roller cam, hahaha.
Anyways, you might want to change the spark plugs if you've been driving around for a while like that.

 

...the worst part is that it's been like this for A YEAR NOW!!!! I REALLY hope I didnt damage my engine...But it seemed to run just fine sometimes.

Oh well atleast now it'll be hitting all 8 and I'll have a seat of the pants difference..and some TORQUE to chew up that new clutch :lala:

 

Actually, you probably didn't do any damage at all. Even though you had the wires switched, they were firing when each cylinder was at TDC. The only difference was it was on when the exhaust valve was just closing while pushing out what should have been exhaust and the intake was just getting ready to open to take int the new A/F mix. So basically, those two cylinders where firing into nothingness (hum... new word??!? ).

I guess if someone is gonna mix up some wires, they might as well be 180* from each other!

Later,
Mike

 

..So basically your saying I was running on 6 cyls?

 

Exactly!!!

 

Now that just pisses me off.

Whats worse is that I'm stuck at work for another 30 mins before I can pick it up... I'm not sure I've EVER expierienced my car on ALL 8 cyls... Today's going to be a big day for me. Seriously I've had this problem for over a year now.

Damn, I feel dumb right about now.

 

I hate stories like this

You've got me wondering if I put all mine on the right way!!

I doubt I did it wrong, but LØRD knows I've done enough stuff similar that it wouldn't surprise me.

Every once in a while we all do the "overlook the obvious". Like running around the house looking for you keys while you're holding them in your hand.

 

Wow man, no offense, but thats kind of funny. You should definitely feel HITHERE huge difference now that its on all 8 cylinders. Have some fun!

 

Yup, its easy to do. How about putting all of the wires back on the distributor cap, in the right order, and the car won't start. Then after 30minutes of checking and rechecking and beating your head you realize that you are one off the entire way around.

 

I did my timing a little while back and somehow my #5 plug wire got loose, the car wouldnt run at all so I backed the timing back down and it was the same thing. The problem was that the boot was still on the plug, just not seated so I couldnt tell! I tried to track down electrical problems for 2 days and on accident I pulled the plug wire and it fell off. I look back now and laugh but I was pretty pissed at the time.

 

yeah, i am sure we have all gotten a plug wire problem at one time or another, when i put a new cap and rotor on once, i got everything on, but did get the coil wire seated properly, i spent hours trying to track down the problem.

 

That aint ****. I replaced a carb, a fuel filter, and 6 feet of hard fuel line and lots of soft line before i realized I was out of gas. I'm not a complete moron though, the needle just stuck for the first time.

Charlo

BTW how is it with all 8?

 

A world of difference. But I want more now.

 

its addictive you will always want more.

 

I'm smelling a SBC 400... :hail:

 

yeah, i got one of those this summer (SBC 400). i had a similar problem as you. got the thing all together, start it, but idling really rough. tried timing forward, backwards, everywhere. any time the car was shifted out of park or neutral, it would just die. checked valve springs, all ok (had a broken one before). one rocker was tightened wrong, but that took all of 30 sec to fix. still no change. checked all spark plug wires, all fine. finally, after doin this on and off for around 4-5 months (live away from home during the school year. go home 1-2 times a month), i finally get the bright idea to pull a spark plug. black. lower the fuel pressure, all is well. thank you tech articles for the afpr!