I own an 84 Firebird, 2.8L V6. A few weeks ago someone took the spark plug wires out on one side, and when we put them back in, I started it up, and it was running really bad, so I shut it off. Since then, I haven't been able to get it started since. We've tried every firing order that we could find for the thing. for a while, we were getting TDC on the exhaust stroke and not the compression. We figured that out yesterday and tried it all again. Still nothing. I'm pretty positive the firing order on the engine is 135 left side, 246 on the right side. Then 123456 on the cap. We've replaced the spark plugs, spark plug wires, ignition coil, and the cap looks pretty new. What I've basically been doing is Getting TDC, then the rotor is pointing towards the #2 cylinder, and I start where its pointing with the #1 plug on the cap. I try and start it, and when it doesn't, I slowly twist the cap around. And then try jumping up a plug, then try going back 1. I havent been able to get it started, and after 3 weeks of pretty much working on it everyday, i'm clueless. We kind of had it force started the other day holding down the throttle, with starter fluid, and the wires in a different order, and it ran really rough, and died when you let off the gas. It shot a bunch of stuff out of the blow-by. I had to change the oil yesterday because it was pretty much straight gas after that. I'm stuck, and just wanted some second opinions before I try and find a mechanic. Just note the housing is very loose right now, and I can twist it around with the cap pretty easily. I'm just thinking something isn't aligned right.

EDIT: Also, I have been told the firing order for the cap or something should be "stamped" or "in raised numbers" on the intake manifold. For the love of me, I can not find it. All I can see is the 1 3 5 on the passenger side on it above the valve cover. The car ran pretty much perfect before the wires were taken out of it. And before I tried starting it, I bought a new air filter, and noticed the clamps on the vacuum lines were missing, so I bought new clamps and put on them, along with 1 new belt.

 

is your friend - learn to use it and you'll spend less time typing and more time driving. I searched "2.8l firing order" here on TGO and I found a thread within the 1st 5 threads that had a link to this internet page:

http://autorepair.about.com/library/...bl086a-lib.htm

1 3 5 are on pass side, 2 4 6 are on driver side. firing order is 123456 on the cap in a clockwise direction.

Get TDC #1 on compression stroke, remove dist cap - where ever rotor points needs to be the #1 plug wire, then follow the order clockwise around the cap.

 

No need tp reply If you haven't fixed it by the date of this reply:
First I would like to ask a question.
What method are you using to determine the compression stroke?
Further replies will be based on your answer.

 

Well I have been doing the same thing as everyone has told me. I finally got TDC on it the right way. I was getting it on the wrong stoke. We had a compression hose that screws into the spark plug hole to test for compression. I went out to give it one more try today, and lined everything up, and took off the new clamps i had on the vacuum lines. On the second try it fired up.I don't know what it was, i've been doing the same thing, All I really tried was taking those clamps off. But it's running now. Its just a little out of timing, and I was going to twist the cap/ housing around like I was doing before to try and get it to idle down, but now that its running, the cap and housing is locked into place. Lol. It won't budge. Im going to take a second look at it tomorrow to make sure it's not caught on any wires or something.

 

You need a timing light and set the timing to spec with the vacuum advance hose disconnected, and the hose itself plugged so that no air gets sucked into while you set the timing. Let the engine warm up until fans come on, or temp gauge stops rising.