I just put in a rebuilt 350 with vortec heads and a summit 1103 cam, weiand airstrike and edelbrock 625cfm, I went to start it yesterday and it spuddered once, then just cranking with nothing happening, so I checked to see if the dist was 180 out, sure enought it was, today i set timing to 8deg, then tryed cranking it, it ran for a sec then shot a fireball outa the carb, then just cranking with no spuddering at all, checked dist timing again was ok.

I ran a compression check on #1 and it was at 130psi, that normal?


I'm wondering if i have the cam timing off, even tho I installed it dot to dot?

 

Only cause of that I can think of on a new engine that hasn't been run yet are the distributor being way off, which you did check already, and the valves being adjusted too tight (intakes specifically). If it spins over really easy, then that would seem even more likely the valves are too tight. How did you adjust them? What kind of cam (solid or hydro?)

 

The valves were adjusted when i had the intake off, i did the cyl one at a time when they were tdc, got them till the push rod was just starting to get tight then another 1/2 turn, the motor doesnt turn over easy, it feels like its got alot of compression when i turn it by my ratchet, cam is a hydro

 

Recheck the timing, Might be a tooth off...def sounds like the timing is off

 

The more I think about it the more i'm thinking i have a valve adjusted to tight, as from what i've been reading the procedure i did isnt the best, i'm going to recheck that tonight, i'll post any updates.
thanks

 

valves too tight, timing, and firing order are all causes of this problem. Check with the cam manufacturer as sometimes the cams require a different fireing order! This definitly sounds like the valves are too tight though and I would suggest loosening them off a bit as too loose will only cause a tapping noise but will run and with hydraulic lifters they likely pumped up after you adjusted the tapets causing the too tight condition. once you have this thing running you can adjust the tapping out of the valves one at a time. This worked for me and hope it helps you.

 

Yeah, i'm almost positive now thats what happend, because i remember now this happend to me in the past, same issue, and all i did was loosen the valves and it started right up, i'm going to try it and i'll let everyone know the outcome, thanks for your help

 

Pretty sure firing order doesn't change in respect to cam chioce. Just saying. As for firing order swaps, I've heard of a 4&7 swap to change which cylinders run hot spots, but this is usually in the dirt track, oval track, road course guys looking to move the hotter cylinders closer to the front mounted water pumps. I could be dead wrong though.

 

As I said in the post SOMETIMES the firing order will change with a different cam. Usually not but some do!

 

How would a cam change this?

 

A special cam can change the firing order. If you have two pistons which are always in the same position then one will be on intake while the other is on power, when one is on exhaust the other will be on compression. So if you reverse the order that the valves open and close by moving the lobes around you can reverse those two cylinders' firing order.

I highly doubt that is the problem though.

 

Just to be clear I wasn't being sarcastic, I was really wondering. Looked back on my posts and was like wow, I sound like a d*ck lol. I did not know you could reverse the order that valves open by the lobes, but I guess it makes sense in my head. I need an asprin now as well, thanks guys.

 

That's not the case since he has the summit 1103 cam.
I think that's the 214/224 one?

It's ignition. Either the plug wires got mixed up, you're still 180* out, or you're just off. Double check the plug wires, then get a buddy to crank it over while you play with the dist. It'll get you EVERY time. It gets me EVERY time, that's for sure.

 

I agree, it must be ignition. Check the firing order again. When you check it use your finger to follow the wire all the way from the cap to the plug. One time my car was running badly and I was sure the firing order was right, but i was just using my eyes to check it and they looked like they were going to the right spots. Down under the manifold where i couldn't see, a couple of wires actually crossed over each other. I felt pretty stupid after that.

Its also easy to get the distributor off by a tooth.

 

The distributor being off a tooth doesn't do anything but change the position of the distributor housing. The exact location of the spark plug wire on the cap with respect to the engine (as illustrated in the attachment - it's actually one terminal clockwise from the typical factory delivery) doesn't mean anything - it's which terminal the rotor is pointing to with respect to the piston/cam position.

Most likely you've got the distributor installed 180 degrees off.

 

Your right but if you do not have the wires in the right spots it won't start

 

backfire through carb-retarded

move you dissy counter clockwise

and use the stock firing order

 

Holy crap I didn't even notice that in the pic I put up. Bet you trust me a lot building my own motor now huh five7kid lol. I'm .

 

Its alive!!, I redid my valve adjustment, cleaned the plugs, and it started and ran for a bit then stalled, then my battery went dead (of course!$) allways something.., Thanks for all your help guys!!

 

Don't you love when diagnosing one problem creates another?

 

Got a quick charge, and the thing runs great, tho now the people next door arent to happy about my open headers LOL....

 

lol

 

I said that, too.
Like I said, it doesn't matter.
Or, the rockers are too tight. . .

 

<---- WINNER!!!

 

Glad to hear it's running man.

 

Congrats man. Get that thing going strong and take it up to the shredd and ragan night at lancaster.

 

Just went through this with the capri, thought had the timing set right, it was retarded, cranked the timing up a bit, started right off. Also, you want to try and make sure you've got everything as far as fluids, etc. squared away and have someone there to help you as well when you do get it cranked because you have to BE SURE you burn your cam in right away when it does crank, or you will have problems in short order.

Good luck

Dan

 

Lol, sounds like a plan