Hi all, I was changing the spark plugs on my 89 camaro iroc-z 305 tpi, and noticed that the firing order that is on the car is completely different then whats in my Hanes book and what I can find online. I wrote down the order that they were in and then changed the order according to what "official" documents I could find. The car didn't start, it seemed to try but wouldn't, I put the firing order back to how it was and the car fired right up, it ran really rough but it ran. Was there different firing orders for this car or is there something else going on with mine? If anyone can give me any advice that would help I'd appreciate it. Thanks

 

AFAIK the firing order hasn't changed in eon's on the SBC 350. Your firing order should be 18436572.

Are you 100% sure that your wires are not crossed? 100% sure that what you believe to be the number 1 post on the distributor IS the post designated for cylinder number one according to the rotor?

My suggestion to you is to put your engine at #1 TDC compression stroke, pull the distributor, and see where you're at. #1 post isn't always in the location that the manuals state. No matter where #1 is though, the firing order remains the same.

 

I have seen aftermarket distributor caps that reorder the wires to clean up their routing. Maybe you have one of these?

 

I've seen lazy people stick in the dizzy off and just route the wires 'off', firing order is the same, post locations just change.

 

Which one of these firing orders do you have?

1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2
8 4 3 6 5 7 2 1
4 3 6 5 7 2 1 8
3 6 5 7 2 1 8 4
6 5 7 2 1 8 4 3
5 7 2 1 8 4 3 6
7 2 1 8 4 3 6 5
2 1 8 4 3 6 5 7

 

I had the thought that it might be somesort of after market distributor that could have changed the post locations but I wasn't sure how to check. This might sound a like a stupid question but how do I put my engine at the #1 TDC compression stroke?

 

The firing order is the same as any other SBC. 18436572. You can believe that.

Most people who think their firing order is wrong, don't know which cyl is which (been working on Frods or something). #1 is front left, other odd #s are down the left side; #2 is front right, the other even #s down that side.

To find #1 firing, put a piece of hose or something in the #1 spark plug hole; bump the starter in small increments until you hear compression escaping; bump it over SLOWLY and CAREFULLY or turn it by hand (but NOT by using the crank damper bolt) until the timing marks are 10° or so before lining up.

 

As stated above, #1 can be anywhere on the distributor. It depends where the rotor is pointing when #1 cylinder is at TDC.

Looking down on the cap, the order or rotation is clockwise.

It's very common to mix up #5 and #7 cylinders because they are beside each other on the distributor cap and head.

 

for some reason, on my 1988 GTA the order its at now is 16532784 and it runs, but not that well.

i have the stock distributor and i just replaced the cap and rotor.

what should i do? just leave 1 where its at and fix all the others?

 

Tear them all off and start over.

 

so let me get this straight, i need to find TDC, then look at the rotor and whichever post its going to strike next (when at TDC) is where i need to put the wire from my #1 cylinder and then just go from there with 8436572

is this right?

 

Pretty much, just make sure you're at TDC after the compression stroke instead of TDC after the exhaust stroke.

 

Right... don't forget, they go in that order CLOCKWISE around the dist cap

 

i just had 3 of them mixed up....dont know how, but they are all good now ;]

 

Don't forget.. some aftermarket race cams switch cylinders # 7 and 4. But since the issue was fixed, this wouldn't apply.

 

Those cams aren't found so often in the wild.

 

Ok, so I found my TDC and rewired the distributor according to the which post was number one. The car still wouldn't start, so I hooked up a timing light between the ignition coil and the distributor cap and tried starting, there was no spark, so the next thing I did was replace the ignition coil thinking it was bad, hooked up the timing light again and still no spark. So now I"m guessing that it's something before the ignition coil. If anyone has any help at this point I could use it.

 

is your pink wire still plugged into the dist.?

 

There's two plugs with a pair of wires in each plug connected to the distributor in what I'm guessing is the ignition module. I can't really tell what colors they are one seems to be pink or red.