firebird45331

ok I'm tired and I'm sure I'm missing the obvious here's the gist. I'm having trouble getting my 350 started. I put my finger over the hole at #1 until I felt compression. I lined up the mark with 0 and dropped the distributor in at #1. Went back out today and felt compression. Lined the balancer up with 0 took the distributor cap off and it was pointing to the firewall. So I reset it to 1. Went back out tonight and did the same thing again this time it was pointing back at the firewall again. How many compression strokes are there on #1? I'm assuming I'm correct as I stand now. I was turning the motor and I could feel compression. the exhaust valve opens then closes. I continue to turn it and the intake opens and closes and then I feel compression. and the distributor is pointing at #1. Someone please tell me I'm correct here. Or is there a little gremlin that's f-ing with my distributor while I sleep? If thats the case I'll have my 12 gauge waiting for him.

kevinc

The cam and distributor turn 1/2 speed relative to the crank.

You'll probably find that the "firewall" position you're seeing the rotor pointing to after 1 revolution of the crank is the #6 plug tower on the distributor cap...and if you turn the engine another full revolution the rotor will be back to plug #1.

People mess this up all the time, usually refer to it as the dist being installed 180 degrees off.

When you're bringing #1 piston to TDC be sure that you feel compression the whole way up, until the balancer mark is at the 0 position on the tab...otherwise you're bringing #6 up to TDC compression and #1 up to TDC exhaust, and the dist will be 180deg out.

AlkyIROC

Put the end of a screwdriver over the spark plug hole or leave the spark plug in the whole very loosely. When the piston comes up to TDC, you'll hear a huge rush of air coming out. Look to see where the timing mark is on th balancer. If your static timing is 12*, try to move the balancer so that the timing mark is at 12*.

Pull the cap and rotor off. Drop the distributer in (you'll probably have to rotate the oil pump so it lines up with the distributer drive. Put the rotor roughly where you want the #1 plug wire to be. With the rotor off, you can see the magnetic pickup points around the distributor shaft. Rotate the distributer so that the points line up. Install the rotor. If it's not pointing to where you want it, rotate the distributor to the next point. Once everything is lined up, reinstalled the rotor, cap and wires. The timing should be close enough that the engine will start.

If in doubt about finding TDC, pull the rocker cover off and watch the rockers and the timing marks on the balancer. The intake valve will close last as the marks are coming up to TDC.

#1 plug wire can be anywhere on the distributor depending where the rotor is pointing in relation to #1 cylinder being at TDC. Firing order is 18436572. Distributor rotation is clockwise. Don't mix up #5 and #7 wires (common to do)

AlkyIROC

Just had a thought. Since we have no idea exactly what you have or done, here's something to check.

Pull the distributer again and see if you can punch out the roll pin holding the distributer gear on. I've seen the roll pin break and the gear is held on by friction. As the gear moves around on the shaft, the timing changes enough that it won't start or it moves enough that the engine runs poorly.

Another thing to check before you pull the distributer. Take the cap off and crank the engine over watching the rotor in relation to the timing marks. After a few revolutions, they should still be in time. If the rotor isn't turning or it's not in the same place after a few revolutions, I'd start looking at a broken gear roll pin.