well hello my name is phillip and i have a 1984 trans am with a 305 v8 4 barrel carb. the only problem is it wont start. i have changed the timing chain water pump thermostat pickup coil and had the ignition mod. checked. the car is in time and is firing correctly the carb is getting gas but it still wont start. it spins and sometimes tries to start but wont. i have been working on it for 4 day and i am at my wits end. i know this car has a computer brain but i dont know how to tell if it is what the problem is. i need any advice you guys can give me. thanks in advance.....

phillip

 

Hi Phillip,

Welcome to Thirdgen.org.

Was this "no-start" problem happening before you did all the work to the engine? or after?

If after, go through the plug wire routing again and make sure they are all in the correct order, then advance the timing while someone is cranking the engine over...usually if everything is put togther correctly and you try to start the car and it spins over good with just an occaisional cylinder firing, the timing is too far retarded.

 

well it happened before i changed all these parts it sounds better now that i have changed these parts,but it still wont start.

 

i also have another question is the timing on this car set to the #6 cylinder the repair manual told me that. but i tried to set it to the #1 cylinder but when i do it puts the timing 180 degrees off.

 

Find the #1 firing position: Take out the #1 plug; bump the starter until compression starts to come out of that hole; turn the engine over slowly by hand until the piston reaches TDC. Now, is your dist at #1? I'd bet it's not. If it's not, take it out; turn the oil pump drive shaft to where it points from right rear of the car to left front, about 30° from straight ahead. Hold the dist above the hole in the position it's suppoed to go in, which would be with the batt & tach wires straight toward the driver's side. Turn the shaft until the rotor points about 20° ahead of straight to the driver's side. Drop the dist in; the shaft will turn CW as it falls in, it should engage the OP shaft and go all the way down. Bolt it down just loose enough to where you can still turn it. It should be turned such that the #1 plug wire terminal is just to the driver's side of the front center of the cap, and the wires go 18436572 clockwise around the cap. That should get it close enough to start, maybe even close enough to leave that way.

That's alot of parts to swap for a no-start condition. Was the cam gear bad? What was the car doing before all this got done to it?

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

well ok here is the story i found this car in florida and i bought it and tried to drive it back home in louisiana. well it overheated and the radiator busted. so i had it transported home and started to replace parts. i had previously talked with a mechanic in florida that said the timing chain was prob. broken. so i replaced the timing chain and sprockes water pump and thermostat and radiator. the car wouldnt start after it had got hot on me in florida. and it still wont start. thanks for all the good advice.

 

hey just found out something else about this car has no accessory. when i put it in accessory i have nothing. it that make a difference i dont know thanks.

 

Phillip,

I think you need to start off the way RB described and see if you can get it running first, then you need to investigate as to why it overheated, I know from your email that the radiator cracked, but that take a lot of heat/pressure, unless it was "just time".