OK, just finished the top end rebuild. I was down to the shortblock. Got the heads cleaned up with all new seals, springs, valve job. Put in a ZZ4 cam. Headers etc....all new plugs and wires, cap, rotor yada yada....all the tune up stuff.

I cranked the engine and it turns over just fine, but I don't get even a hiccup as far as combustion. The engine has fuel, and compression. I have NOT yet tested for spark. I have new custom cut MSD superconductors and I should've tested them before, but I'm gonna do it now of course. All the "obvious" things like connectors being unplugged etc. have been checked for!

Here's my diagnosis thus far: since I get NO combustion at all, my guess is that it's not the new wires. What are the chances that ALL my connections weren't good? If it was just a few, I'd at least get some sort of firing. I'm guessing the coil/Ignition module maybe? What do you think?

Second issue/concern: Timing. Even with the timing off, it should be at least "trying" to start, right? Like I said, I have NO firing at all. Along the same line, if the distributor was 180* off, would I still get some firing from leftover gas in the cylinder? I'm 99% sure that I made sure to roll it over after the cam went in, so that it was back firing the #1, but If you guys think that might be it, I'll check.

Like I said, I have fuel, I have compression, it almost HAS to be a spark issue, correct? With all the work I did, I'm trying to eliminate things to check.

 

#1, absoultely, you must make sure there is spark. Put a timing light on it and that will tell you if there is or not. If there is not, you need to go through your ignition system and find the fault. If there IS, you need to check dist position, timing, plug gap and quality, and firing order. That should set you right up. How is your fuel pressure?

 

I would first and foremost go back to square one and make sure you have top dead center on the compression stroke for the #1 cyclinder. Once you've established that you have that, then go to the spark side of things. The first simple check would be to pull the plug wire off one of the plugs and try to start the car. you should see a spark jump off the wire when you ground it out. If you have no spark then it's time to start looking at all the connections for the distributor. Did you plug them into the right spots and did you hook up the pink hot wire for the distributor. You can have the engine far enough out of time that it won't even attempt to start. I just did this today on my car and I had the distributor just far enoughout that it would not start. So I went back to square one and went from there and now the car starts up and runs fine after putting a timing light on it. Good luck.

 

I've confirmed that the coil is getting spark to the distributor, but that's as far as I could get tonight. I really didn't have time to work on it, but I had to do something. LOL. I'm gonna make sure that the plugs are firing tommorrow before my softball game, and assuming they are, then I can start with the timing/TDC adjustments wednesday.

Couple of things:

TDC firing #1. I use the finger over the hole trick correct? What's the best way to roll the engine over?

I lined the distributor up with the marks I made during dis-assembly, but is there any exact way to know if the distributor is in the right place? I guess one tooth too advanced or retarded would be pretty obvious, huh? ...and the rotor should be pointing to the #1 plug wire on the cap, right? (hence firing #1) I made a nice little drawing.

...should I attempt to start it approximately 6* advanced or should I try it at 0* like the pic.?

 

If you have one of those remote starter solenoids that alot of people use such as myself, then it's a piece of cake to just hook up a remote starter switch so you roll the motor over with the starter, if you don't then you need a buddy to hit the key while you do the rest of this procedure, provided you have disconnected the coil so the motor won't start. Pull the #1 plug out and stick your finger over the opening of the hole and bump the starter over till you feel pressure building in that cylinder, as it does watch the mark on the harmonic balancer to come up to the 0 mark on the timing tab. Then look to see where your rotor is pointing, it should be at the number 1 cylinder. If not you found your problem. Yes these distributers can get a little tricky getting back in right. I never get mine back the first time, sometimes you may even have to use a screw driver to move oil pump shaft just a bit to get the distributer to drop all the down and seat properly. Just take your time and you can do this, if I can do this anyone can. Hope this helps.