As the title says. Got everything put together last night. Turns out I was a little off on the distributor setting. I backed all the plug wires up 1 position counter clock wise and she wants to fire but won't stay running. It backfires through the throttle body.

Am I still off on the timing / distributor set ?
Do I need to reset the #1 piston the firing position and re-drop the distributor ?

Trying to get this thing fired up today so I can get it to the exhaust shop tomorrow.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated !

 

Check this out and see if it applies.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...tbi-after.html

 

So your engine was apart?
Have you installed the distributor the correct way around?
I've heard of people installing it 180° reversed and producing these symptoms.

 

doesn't help... I put the #1 cylinder at firing position and the dist is pointing pretty darn close the firing position. I'm at a loss here.

 

Correct, the motor was out for a complete rebuild. Not sure what you mean by "the correct way around". The distributor itself is installed correctly from what I remember. I'm thinking I may be a tooth or something.....

 

Probably due to the car not staying on or the distributor being off but I just pulled the #1 and #3 plugs and they're soaked in gas....

 

Set the engine to TDC, reset the distributor and I get the same thing.... Snort, cough, spit and it wont stay on !! This thing is driving me crazy !! I've NEVER had this much trouble starting a new engine !

 

did you plug the injector wires onto the wrong bank by chance?

 

Right , TDC of #1 .....

BUT !!!

There are TWO (2) TDCs in each firing event . Are you timing it on TDC of the COMPRESSION stroke , or TDC of the EXHAUST stroke ?

Cause only if it's timed to TDC of the compression stroke will it start .......

 

Nope.... injector harness is pretty much set as to which one is right and which one is left...

 

Yes. Pulled the #1 plug, put my finger in the hole and had my son bump the motor over until air is being pushed out of the cylinder.

 

I meant the distributor being installed with the sockets facing to the engine front instead of the firewall, for example.
That would be a 180° turn and cause all sorts of stuff.

 

At the moment the distributor is installed with the electrical connections facing in the 2 o'clock position. Which more or less where they were when we disassembled the motor.

 

On another note, and this is odd.... when the #1 valve were adjusted to have some of the lash removed, we cranked over the motor to find TDC and I was getting NO compression (air pushing out of the cylinder) what so ever !

Anyone have an idea or answer for that ??

 

Adjust the valves too tight?

 

Could be right... I loosened them up and seems to be okay.

 

Any other ideas as to why she's not firing up and staying on ??
I'm still thinking its a timing issue but just can't wrap my head around it. Can't figure out where I went wrong....

 

a bad icm will make them pop. also u may want to invest in new lock nets for the rocker arms had the same problem with my 91 tbi

 

ICM ??

 

icm - ignition control module

 

It the thing under dist cap it has two plug openings on it

 

I may just have to drop this thing off at my local Chevy dealership with a friend of mine.....

 

Okay so here's the latest update........

Got most of the problems figured out, timing, valve lash and so forth.
Now I can get the car to start, run and idle under throttle.. but she still won't stay on under her own power.

Do I have to have the computer retuned ?
Only difference from stock is a set of headers and an LT4 hot cam with 1.5 roller rockers.

And suggestions, comments ?

 

no one huh...... wow.....

 

Maybe a vacuum leak somewhere. Do u hear a hissing noise at idle?

 

been running the car open header. Will get the car back tomorrow and we'll see where we go from there. found someone locally that my have to re-tune the computer to the new cam.

 

SHE LIVES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like we got her all sorted out !!
I'm thinking I may have to buy a computer chip if we can't get the car to idle on its own.

Any of you guys have any chip recommendations ??

Oh and this cam sounds SWEET !!