hello

I am a new owner of a 83 transam with a 5.0 crossfire motor.
The car has been sitting for about 3 years and the owner said the distrubtor might be off a tooth or so. So I drained the gas..threw on a new fuel filter, and bought new wires. I finally got the motor to start but it would die and start the cpi's on FIRE. So my question is how do i pull out the distrubtor and install it correctly? Also where is the timing indicator on the motor?

Thanks

 

Welcome to the board and congrats on the new ownership of a 3-gen . If you plan on working on this car buy a chilton or haynes manual it will he your best friend . I like the Haynes . All the info you need is in the books , or use the search button . The timing marks are on the front of the motor (look down throgh the water pump) on the balancer and timing cover . To get the distributor on right you will have to finded TDC on the #1 cylinder and have the rotor pointing at the # 1 cylinder .Check with time light first . Do a search with TDC,Timing and Timing light or all together there is tons of info. Good luck

 

There's no need to remove and reinstall the distributor to time it properly. If the available range of travel of the distributor adjustment is inadequatte, simply move all the wires one poisition on the distributor cap and time teh engien (via teh timing light) again. Remember that you will need to disconnect the flat, four-wire connector at the distributor to bypass the EST and set base timing correctly.

And Welcome Aboard!

 

Thanks for the imput.. But the problem I have is no matter how much I change the timing by hand, I can not get it to run enough to use a timing light. It just dies and flames come out of the cbi's. So i pulled spark plug #1 out and am trying to find tdc, but i dont know what to do next? Also on the timing indicator on the block, what do the marks mean. 6advanced=0=6retard

Thanks.

 

It is critical that you bypass the EST system before attempting to set the base timing. Once the EST is active, the timing at idle can be as high as 30° BTDC, and moving around quite a bit. You may not even see the timing mark anywhere near the tab without bypassing the EST.

The instructions for bypassing the EST should also be outlined on the VECI label under the hood. It may involve jumping the ALDL diagnostic pins after startup or simply disconnecting the 4-wire flat connector at the distributor. Follow those instructions, then try reading the timing with your light.

The timing marks on the tab will align with the timing groove on the balancer hub when your timing light is connected, the engine is running at idle, and the EST is bypassed. "Advanced" means the spark is occurring before the piston reaches the top dead center (TDC) position in the cylinder. "0" means the spark is occurring exactly at TCD. "Retard" means the spark is occurring after the piston has passed TDC. Follow the instructions and adjust the timing to the specification listed on that VECI label under the hood.

 

If you are getting flames from the TBI units, either the ignition timing is WAY off, the firing order is incorrect, the valve timing is off, an intake valve is stuck open, or the intake(s) is flooded with fuel.

My guess is that the firing order is incorrect and/or the ignition timing is way off. It is also possible that the EST is skewing the timing so much that you are creating backfire. Disconnect the EST before proceeding with anything, then verify the firing order: