OK boys.. i was looking at my spark plug wires today.. and the firing order was WAY off... not 180 off.. but its like they were all one off... the car ran fine.. but there was always a little shimmy in the car at idle... anyway.. i put it in the 1-8-4-3-6-5- 7-2 order that is in my haynes manual. as i do this, i forget to write down that it looked like before... bad move... i go to start the car up... no dice... does not start at all.. i try to remember the combo before.. and i try it.. it starts up for about a split second.. and then blam.. i think it was a backfire... and that aint good.. all i know is it smells like burnt plastic or rubber... i looked for a fire, but thank ***, there was none... does anyone have any insight into what happend? how did my car run so well before, and now when i put it in the right order.. it totaly backfires? this was a dumb idea, but i thought i could fix the little rumbble i had in the idle.... please help me!

 

here is a bad diagram of what i made from the haynes manual..

dont laugh... just help me please...

 

I'm pretty sure you want to start with 1 on the back side of the cap, not the front. Try with it opposite of where it is now..where 5 is on your picture.

 

The diagram you drew is correct. Problem comes from the fact that a previous owner probably screwed it up. From the factory, the #1 terminal is located on the front right, as you have pictured. But if the distributor has been pulled, the #1 can be anywhere.

Just do this.......

Turn to engine over by hand with #1 spark plug removed. Turn the engine until the line on the balancer is lined up with the 0 degree mark on the timing tab. I always use a screwdriver to see if the #1 piston is at the top of the cylinder ( TDC #1 ) or use your finger to feel the pressure when turning the engine over...if it's not there, turn the engine all the way over until the mark lines up at 0 degrees again, this should be TDC #1.

Now pull the dist cap. Look where the rotor is pointing. This is #1. No wire it in order, starting with #1 at that point.......


Or even easier.....

Line the mark up on the timing tab with 0 degrees. Check the rotor, start with #1 and wire it up. If it runs like CRAP, put the #6 wire where you just put the #1 wire and wire it in the correct firing order, using that plug wire as a starting point.



HTH

 

ct, you bring up somthing that bothers me now.... I am the original owner, well my father is..... so who f*cked with my distributer? the only time it was ever pulled was when the engine was replaced... but that was a long time ago and it was done by GM, not some mech.

now to fix it... ok.. how easy is it to "turn" the motor manualy? what do i need and how do i go about doing it. and was that smell i smelled last night the smell of a backfire? my MAF is bad already, i was just getting ready to replace it... This car is not drivin at all now, so i have some time. but i would like to get this done so i can start her up every once and a while to get all the juices flowing. thank you guys

 

TTT.... someone help! please

 

Bump the starter by turning your ignition key with the coil disconnected to where it will not crank. Or buy and use a remote starter so you can do it from the engine bay.

 

I FIXED IT!!! YEAH ME! well after thinking it out, and searching this site... i picked up some tips... i first set the firing order like its supposed to be.. tried to start it and no start.. i shifited the wires clockwise on the cap, and VOILA! i gotta write this down so i dont forget it next time

 

YOu shifted the wires on the cap? Just moved the wires over one place clockwise. Just curious.

 

i moved them each one place clockwise... ok mods can close this if they want to.

 

If all you did was move all the wires one position over, then you changed your timing by 45° (360° of rotation divided by 8 cylinders). You could have simply turned the distributer to acheive this. It sounds like you installed the distributer one tooth off, #1 and #8 should be up front.

 

ahhh i never took it out.. its been in there since 90 when the new 305 was put in... other then that, the car has never been touched really

 

Like it was said before you can set #1 anywhere on the dist, I am going to bet that the tech who installed the engine put it anywhere on the cap as long as it lined up with the terminal and the fireing order is correct after that.