Help me get my motor started....

nmcgrawj

Advanced Member
Sep 28, 2003
3,651
4
68
Indianapolis, IN
Well guys after a lot of hours and hard work, the time is here. I got the motor to run...roughly...and i think the timing is off. At first, it was just a slight backfire...so i restabbed the dizzy....then it tried to start so i kept playing with the dizzy. Then i figured out that it would fire and start(rough running) if i held the gas pedal to the floor. Doesnt this cut off the injectors? Well anyway, i kept it running with pushing the pedal and i saw smoke. So i stopped and its the paint on my headers so im assuming its lean. Or could it be rich?

Anyway, just wanted to throw my symptoms out there for anyone who has heard of or experienced them and had some insight on what to try next.

Its the 351, TFS heads, TFS intake, Ed cam, 30 lb injectors, pro-m 80mm maf, etc etc etc.

Let the ideas fly.... :nice:
 
I dont know as I would be leary of loading it with fuel...then it starts with a bang... :damnit:
Myself I would pull #1 and reverify TDC on the balancer to #1 on the rotor.....sounds like the dizzy is still out of sync??

Got good fuel pressure???
 
Yup, i got good fuel pressure. I just dont get why it only starts at WOT. Another question i had, does it matter on the dizzy where the #1 plug actually is as long as they go in the correct firing order?

And i woke up and realized my mistake possibly, i didnt take off the cheap paint that came on the headers that i was told would burn off. So by adding paint that is supposed to be able to handle the high temps on top of cheap paint that will burn off, it seems like the hi temp paint will burn off too since it is adhering(sp?) to cheap paint that is melting.
 
Have someone else check the timing while you keep it running in the car. Mine was about 25* retarded when I first got it running.

The smoke is normal if you painted a lot of engine parts. Mine smoked like crazy for about 5 minutes when I fired it up.
 
nmcgrawj said:
Yup, i got good fuel pressure. I just dont get why it only starts at WOT. Another question i had, does it matter on the dizzy where the #1 plug actually is as long as they go in the correct firing order?

There is a 1 where you should start with the #1 wire, then follow the firing order.
 
Nate, the cars running so the distributer is in correctly. I had similar problems as well. If you have a friend with you have him keep the car running while you pull the spout and set the timing to 10*. You have a PMS so all your timings through that. Get it running and go for a drive and see if it gets better. When I first got my 347 running, it would not idle on its own. My timing was off and I had vacuum leaks creating a bad lean issue.
 
Yep, it is a misconception that one can be 'One tooth off' on the dizzy. As long as one has enough clearance to rotate the dizzy to get it in time, it is NOT one tooth off.

Flooring the gas does cut injector pulse. Common to do with larger injectors on cars which have not had a tune yet.

Good luck.
 
Well guys i had success today. We restabbed the distributor 3 times and had the same result. Car will only run at WOT and cut off as soon as no gas is given. I got really mad cause it was so stupid and i knew the problem was simple. So right before i quit and i thought about why i have to give it gas to get it started. Then i jumped out and put the idle screw on the distributor in and tried again. BAM the car was running on its on at about 2 grand. So then i backed it down to s ee if it would hold and it did at about 800 rpms. I guess the idle screw was too closed from when i had the 302 for the bigger motor or maybe it lost adjustment when i took everything apart. Anyway, the car is now idling on its own but i have not gotten to drive it.

Tomorrow morning im going to take it to the exhaust shop to get the midpipe welded on and the mufflers. The neighbors dont appreciate me "problem solving" with open headers hahahaha :p


Thanks for the tips once again fellas :flag:
 
Also if your having surging problems starting up it, pull out cranking fuel. I'm at -50% cranking fuel with my car. I believe its due to the warmer summer weather as I used to run -24% in the 302 but that was in the fall weather.

Keep us posted man. What do you mean "idle screw on the distributer"? You mean tb?? Hows that cam sound?
 
RIO5.0 said:
Slick...an easy fix...gotta love it.. :nice:


YES SIR! Yea it really made my day :banana:


But i got another problem...i dont think my high speed fan is working. I have a switch for it that doesnt turn it on and it does not turn on with max a/c. So i ran a direct line from the ground and to the ccrm and i heard it "click" but no fan. So....does that mean the relay is done or the high speed fan circuit is done?

Can i hardwire the fan to come on?


I will be making another thread but figured i would post here is real quick.