distributor/starting problems, help!

[89ripper]

i had the distributor out and forgot to mark where it was and now of course i am having issues with the car starting. it will run and then quit all of a sudden, then when i go to start it again, it wont start, almost like its flooded or something. i wann make sure that i am putting the distributor in correctly. i have gotten all sorts of different tips on how to figure out where top dead center is for # 1 cylinder, my question is where should the rotor point? after 1 terminal, on the # 1 terminal or before it? assuming the distributor cap is like a clock, with # 1 being 12oclock, where does the rotor need to point when i am at top dead center? this problem is driving me nuts, the fact that the distributor housing moves as well confuses me as to where everything should be

 

[TheUser]

trust me dude, i went through this as well. Look on your cap and try to see a "1" on it...now put the cap on the distributer and make a mark on the dist. that matches where the "1" is and then get the rotor to line up w/ it...does that make sense? Basically you want the rotor to point as close as possible to the number one plug wire (where the "1" is on the cap).

Yeah, you can rotate it all around, but it doesn't really matter where it's at. Try to line it up where it's in the middle...mine points at the alt bracket right at the little hole where the little plastic thing for the A/C connector plugs in. You can get it started by ear, but you want to check it with a timing light, so if you don't have one, maybe try to borrow one or something.

 

[Ourobos]

Yeah, basically at 12 o'clock. IF the car won't even start then, it's possibly out 180 degrees, and you can just rotate it that much. I just did my HCI swap, and mine wouldn't respond to the throttle at 12 oclock, and I moved it back one tooth to roughly 11 oclock, and it fired up great. Good luck

 

[89ripper]

so what you are saying is you can drop the rotor in and move the distributor until it lines dead on with the rotor or is it more or less moving tooth by tooth until it is lined up with the terminal, it seems a lot easier the way you are saying it

 

[jrichker]

Take the coil wire out of the distributor. Pull #1 plug, put your finger in the spark plug hole. Have someone crank the engine until it starts to blow air past your finger. Stop cranking, turn the engine by hand (breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt, or put the car in gear and push) until the TDC mark on the harmonic balancer lines up with the pointer on the passenger side of the engine.

To re-install, turn the distributor rotor to point to #1 cylinder position on the cap. The#1 position is about 11 o'clock if 6 o' clock is the front of the engine. Line the rotor up with it pointing at the #1 spark plug position on the cap and drop it in. You may have to twist the shaft some to get it to engage the oil pump shaft. Then remove the SPOUT connector plug, and use a timing light to set the timing. The SPOUT is the dangling connector on the distributor harness on stangs made prior to 94 and with a computer controlled engine. 10* is stock for most 5.0s' 12*-14* is good for more pep if you are not into NO2 or power adders. Bolt it down and you are good to go.

 

[89ripper]

ok just making sure i understand.... you are saying the correct way to get the rotor to point where you want it to, would be to insert the rotor while its point at about 11 o clock so when it engages the gear on the cam it seats into where it should be, at the number 1 spark plug terminal

 

[jrichker]

ok just making sure i understand.... you are saying the correct way to get the rotor to point where you want it to, would be to insert the rotor while its point at about 11 o clock so when it engages the gear on the cam it seats into where it should be, at the number 1 spark plug terminal

Yes. There is no such thing as one tooth off. As long as you can get the timing marks to line up when you use the timing light you are OK. Too far either way may result in the distributor housing bumping against something, usually the thermostat housing.

The important thing is to use the proceedure to find TDC on compression stroke for #1 cylinder.

 

[89ripper]

ok , i guess what threw me off was people saying that i was a "tooth off" it didn't make sense to me if as long you were ablt to adjust the housing either way, thanks for all your help