I just bought an lb9 iroc with the intake off. The previous owner said it was blowing steam so he took it apart to clean it up and fix it. I putback together today and dropped the distributor back in. I hear the fuel pump turn on and it turns over but it wont fire. It will almost start (just a slight stumble) in about 3-4 second intervals. Theres also a strong gas smell after I crank it. Could I have put the distributor on wrong (I went by the marks the previous owner put on there and it looks identical to my l98) or is there a trick to getting a TPI to start after its been taken apart? I'm thinking its more of an ignition problem than a fuel because of the gas smell. Any help is appreciated...

 

u could have the distributor 180 degrees of

 

my first asumption......would be did the guy fix it right?

steam is a sure fire indicator of a blown headgasket/cracked block or head.

 

i have the squared off part facing the firewall towards the driver just like how my l98 is and the line he marked is facing the front. would a cracked block/head/head gasket prevent it from firing. im not concerned on the condition of the motor just need it running so i can move it around from spot to spot.

 

quickest way to set timing...

pull the coil wire loose,and number 1 spark plug,if ya dont know where #1 is,its first one on drivers side.

put your finger over the spark plug hole,and try to seal it off,have a buddy bump the starter VERY SLOWLY. jsut a tap is all thats needed,have him do this several times.

what your looking for is the compression stroke,once you feel a "pop" and a rush of air,you should be good to go,also,keep a close tab on the timing mark,once you feel that "pop",the timing mark on the balancer,should be sitting at ZERO on the timing tab.

now pull the distributor,i keep it in there since it turns the oil pump while bumping,prolly doesnt spin enough to do anything,but hey,i leave it in,until i find TDC{top dead center}

once the distributor is out,rotate the rotor so that it faces directly towards the number 1 cylinder,gently slide the distributor back into the block,youll have to fudge with it a bit to get it to mesh with the gears,try to get it as close as possible,so that when the distributor drops in,its still facing numb #1 cylinder. 90% of the time,you wont engage the oil pump drive,so what i do,is hold down gently on the body of the distributor{dont hold or get in the way of the rotor} and have a buddy SLOWLY tap the starter over with the ignition,you will notice the distributor drop down one more notch,and seat flush against the manifold.

toss the cap and rotor back on,the wires,and use a timing light to set the timing to approx 6* BTDC

idealy,you should pull the drivers valve cover off,and keep an eye on the number one intake and exhaust valves,jsut to confirm your on compression stroke,not exhaust stroke,but.....ive never had it go wrong the method i described.



and to your other question,yes....a cracked block,head/blown headgasket,if its leaking into the cyl's,its very possible it wont allow the motor to start.

if after retiming the motor,the motor does the same things as described above,id start pulling plugs and check for moisture/contaminants.

 

by bump you mean crank it from inside the car?

 

Yep. You can also turn the engine over by the bolt on the crank pulley, but the starter way is much easier.

 

thanks dude ill try that as soon as i get off work.... very informative post

 

ok got her fired up.... it wants to idle in park at around 1500-2000 and will stall when put in drive. sometimes itll start dieseling and shut off and sometimes it wont start up all the way and just start dieseling
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forgot to mention it idles up verrrry slooooowly

 

ok,more often then not,your going to have to readjust the TPS and IAC sensors.

click this link https://www.thirdgen.org/tpimod2 ,for a detailed explanation of how to do that,key here at least right now,would be to get everything on the motor where it SHOULD be set at...makes it alot easier to diagnose other issues.

if its idling high,its possible its a vaccum leak,but its hard to tell until all other sensors are set how they should be. lemme know if ya need anything else,report back once ya get those set and how the car responds.

glad i could be of some help.



and btw...firebird josh does have a point,you CAN use the crank bolt to spin the crank over,but,i highly recomend against it...snapping a crank bolt is NOT a fun thing to deal with.

 

ill set the iac and tps and report my findings tomorrow when theres light out... btw i went with having a buddy crank it from inside

 

 

ok so i cleaned the iac reset it and set the tps. it will idle in gear now but still jumps up when in park. i was looking over everything and i forgot to plug in a couple vacuum lines under the plenum... then i noticed the runners were on the wrong side im gonna redo it and hope everything idles fine, if not atleast i can move it around for the street sweeper. thanks for all the tips and advice... it helped alot. pretty proud of myself actually thanks guys

 

right on man,vaccuum leaks will play hell with it wanting to run/idle and such,so make sure there all plugged up.

you planning a motor swap later on down the road or something and jsut want the car moveable right now?

 

exactly.... this 305 has 213 on the clock and shows no signs of rebuilt