Once it breaks loose and shifts there is no trusting it will not shift more. If the TDC test I described earlier shows it has slipped toss it.
'91 305 TBI stalled out, got towed, never started again
- Thread starter TheAutomaTom
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I was more or less asking if putting some marks on the balancer, starting the truck and rechecking the marks would show if it had separated . If checking true tdc and the mark happened to be off on the balancer, could there be any other explanation for that? If I were to check for tdc with a stop, I'd probably be paranoid I messed up the process and was hoping that using witness marks on the balancer, starting the truck and rechecking the marks would verify it is in fact moving.
So was curious if marking it and rechecking would verify this or if there is a chance that, even if the balancer had separated, it could settle in to a spot and not move. Seems it's a lot of force so I'd expect it to shift at least some but I don't know.
If you have access to a piston stop that would be better than the screwdriver method. If after you mark the balancer using the stop and the factory notch is not right in the center of your marks that verifies that the balancer ring has spun. No need to play with it anymore,throw it away!!!
Hipster
I'm Awesome
With both gears having the marks at 12:00, the pickup coil teeth should be exactly aligned, and the rotor points to #1 terminal on the cap.
^^^^This from Schurkeys's post.
A tooth or too off off can create issues , 180 out can create a no-start. 2-3 teeth off can create blurbles through exhaust or intake because it's trying to fire the next cylinder.. There is a huge misunderstanding of people think you can drop the distributor and wherever it lands is no.1 and you can just wire the cap accordingly and it's good. This just isn't the case. No amount of moving the distributor back and forth trying to time the engine will put the distributor back in "phase". The mechanical crap/install has to be right. The trigger on the pick-up needs to match the rotor/post on the cap.
^^^^This from Schurkeys's post.
A tooth or too off off can create issues , 180 out can create a no-start. 2-3 teeth off can create blurbles through exhaust or intake because it's trying to fire the next cylinder.. There is a huge misunderstanding of people think you can drop the distributor and wherever it lands is no.1 and you can just wire the cap accordingly and it's good. This just isn't the case. No amount of moving the distributor back and forth trying to time the engine will put the distributor back in "phase". The mechanical crap/install has to be right. The trigger on the pick-up needs to match the rotor/post on the cap.
Last edited:
Hipster
I'm Awesome
There's 2 TDC's for #1, one is Tdc exhaust, and one is Tdc compression. Make sure on TDC compression for distributor stab. Very basic but sometimes it's basic that gets missed.
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WICruiser-97
I'm Awesome
Those of us old enough to remember the "good old days" when all the distributor did was time the connection between the coil and the spark plug need to remember that things have changed. I do not recall when but at some point the distributor also became a defacto cam position sensor. With that being the case you can no longer stab the distributor in and use a combination of spark plug wire position and distributor adjustment to get the engine to operate correctly. You need to make sure the engine is set to TDC on #1 compression stroke, distributor is positioned such that the rotor is pointed at #1 spark plug, and the #1 plug wire is connected to the cap in that rotor location.
Any engine with sequential fuel injection, and a distributor.
For our purposes, that would be Vortec SBC and BBC that have no points or magnetic timer core, but do have a genuine cam position sensor.
Anything else, and the distributor position is pretty flexible, but looks stupid when not "correct" to anyone who knows the difference.
Balancer timing mark, Cylinder 1 compression stroke max, and the timing gears marks have always aligned perfectly. Aligning the 2 new distributors to fire at wire #1 fails to start the engine.
The distributor has been pulled and re-seated multiple times to test for "one tooth off" condition described earlier. This has included flipping over the 13 tooth gear at the bottom of the distributor. Attempts do not improve starting conditions.
Balancer marks have remained consistent with the positions of other factors for the entire duration of diagnosis. Attempting to start the vehicle on the exhaust stroke results in no start in any timing: I have been consistently identifying the compression stroke.
The distributor has been pulled and re-seated multiple times to test for "one tooth off" condition described earlier. This has included flipping over the 13 tooth gear at the bottom of the distributor. Attempts do not improve starting conditions.
Balancer marks have remained consistent with the positions of other factors for the entire duration of diagnosis. Attempting to start the vehicle on the exhaust stroke results in no start in any timing: I have been consistently identifying the compression stroke.
I know these are complicated problems, and there's a lot to provide a thorough explanation of the situation... but sometimes you guys make me feel like I should be taking pictures of the key that I'm using in the ignition, just to show you I do have some understanding of "what car is." I've done a lot better than just stuttering, "why moto no go vroom?"
If anyone has had similar symptoms, such as only starting when the distributor was on some weird timing, like 30' or 50' ATDC, I would love to hear your experience in solving that problem. I also realize most folks may not have noticed that a motor would start at that weird ass timing, but I did, and it's a valuable symptom to consider.
If anyone has had similar symptoms, such as only starting when the distributor was on some weird timing, like 30' or 50' ATDC, I would love to hear your experience in solving that problem. I also realize most folks may not have noticed that a motor would start at that weird ass timing, but I did, and it's a valuable symptom to consider.
Can you elaborate on timing gears marks? are the dots pointing at each other or are they both at 12 O'clock?
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