I just got my camaro back from a place in daytona. I brought it there to have them diagnose and fix a code problem. they did, they also replaced my spark plugs cus they were bad. i picked it up...they said it ran great. i drove it 100 yards and it started to run like crap. why i didnt turn around and bring it back to them i dont know. i got 9/10ths way home and my upper radiator hose blew, but there was no sign of over heating on my gauge. I popped the hood and saw that my temp gauge was disconnected. I called them and they said it drove fine earlier. (i couldnt take it so i hung up). i saw that there was hoses not connected right, a vac hose connector on the coil disconnected and that my dizzy was LOOSE! now...i cleaned everything else up, fixed the hose and it wont run. backfires and shuts off. i take off the cap, and the rotor isnt lined up. i cant rotate the cap enough to make it run. i take out the 1st spark plug (#1), plug the hole with my finger, and have a buddy crank over the motor til the balancer lines up with zero....and low and behold...the rotor is facing the wrong way....180. if im looking at the dizzy from the front of the car its at 10 o clock and not 5.

does anyone know how i got home? cus im really starting to lose it. AND! does my diagnosis sound correct?

i paid 600 bucks for my car to be in worse shape....

oh! also ... my spark plug was covered in oil.

 

Makes no difference where the rotor points so long as it points to the right spark plug at right time
So long as rotor points to # 1 plug wire on cap when your finger was blown off # 1 plug hole, and timing marks lined up ; then engine will run fine

 

also if your distributor was that loose it more than likely popped out and turned. I would have the shop tow the car back and fix whatever isn't right.

 

yeah my main priority is to call them monday. but im worried about what else they will do. it was a mess.

but vetteoz, when i line up the balancer with the 0 mark, my finger gets blown off the hole and the dizzy is not at number 1. its in the exact 180 of where 1 is...i guess it would be at the #3 or #6 if i remember the order off the top of my head. ....either that or my finger gets shot off when the rotor is on #1 and the balancer is like wayy off the mark. something is very screwed up and not the way it was when i gave it to them. I just want to make sure my theory is correct before i go and tell them what they did. Ive never had to bring the motor back to TDC like this ... im inexperienced

 

when you're at TDC wherever the rotor is pointing will be your #1 cylinder. it is possible to be 180 out if the distributor moved, but you can move all your wires and reset the firing order which really isn't a big deal. since you paid a mechanic I would not do anything with the car so that they can see what they did incorrectly.

 

so your telling me that i could rearrange the wires on the cap end starting with 1 where the rotor is at TDC (where the balancer is at 0)?,

I might try this tomorrow morning to test if there are any other problems. but i agree, i will put the car back in the shape is was when they see this, i have a feeling they are not going to believe that they did it, but i am not trying to cause this hassle for myself. i just want my car to run

 

I would work on taking out the dist tomorrow if i had time. This whole thing is happening the weekend before my med school midterms and its gotten me a little rattled so it would be not within my best interest to tear out my dist.

its there responsibility to fix.

 

100 yards away & your car started running like crap, but you didn't stop right there? It woulda been a simple matter of lining the dizzy back up & tightening it back down.

Do not simply rearrange the plug wires!

The balancer mark will line up with the 0 mark twice per crankshaft revolution. Turn it until the rotor is 180 degrees, then your back to the starting point. Was the hold down still in place, just not tight? I seriously doubt that the dizzy popped up & simply reengaged again. Especially not exactly 180 degrees.

 

From what I've experienced, when a distributor is 180 degrees off it makes a suction sound that sounds like a plunger being pulled off a tile floor while you are cranking it. It's very distinct sounding and has always happened when I forget to mark the distributor.

 

This is why ... no one works on my car but me.

Get TDC on #1 cylinder on compression stroke (like you have been with finger trick). Pull distributor, and restab it so that the rotor is physically pointing towards the #1 spark plug. The rerun the wires if needed to correct the firing order. Then grab a light and set the timing where it should be, and lock down the dist (if you need a timing light, Harbor Freight like $15). Correct any other vacuum leaks, disconnected wires, etc. Disconnect battery and wait 5 minutes, then reconnect (clear codes from ECM).

Drive car and see how it is. Pull codes if anything else weird happens.

Screw that shop, make a rant on local Craigslist and/or Angies list, and BBB - so some others will be warned, and leave it at an expensive lesson learned. Buy a Haynes manual, and stop giving others cash money to screw up your car - you can do that easily enough on your own for free! Tools are cheap, and it's always better to spend YOUR time fixing YOUR problem, especially when the alternative is spending YOUR money so that you can later spend YOUR time fixing someone else's screwup!

 

Well, I am usually a big advocate for working on my own car. But ever since I've started grad school I don't have time.

The tie down is in place but loose. I know that bc I cannot lift up on the dizzy. But I can't get a good view of the tie down. I didn't know the balancer went around twice....it would make sense then if the rotor was 180 when the balancer was at 0 bc then the next time it comes around it would be at #1. I'll go back out today and take another look.

I can probably get a friend who has a light down here that I can borrow. I've never had to set my own timing with a light lol