318 V8 running sickly

68dartgtman said
Hey Dartswinger70 -
I have not rebuilt this engine - the only thing I had to do was take the intake off and have it cleaned because it was plugged with carbon - I have not replace anything internal - checked compression on each cylinder and right at 125 to 150 lbs of pressure and I had a new oil pump installed since the pan gasket was trash. So to answer you question - yes - it still has the crappy cam gear ......... I was wondering if the timing had jumped .............. had a car do that once years ago .............. I will try all the suggestions in this chain above and hope it's not the timing gear or chain .......... gezzzzzzzzzzzz - I hope it not that !

thanks man !
Mike

There is a way to check it. Remove the distributor cap, line the timing marks up on the harmonic balancer to 0 (TDC Compression). See if the rotor is pointing at cylinder # 1 (or the intake bolt at the left front corner of the intake) If it is off, the timing chain 'jumped time" also, you can check for slop in the chain (they stretch) by turning the crank pulley counter clock wise. take note of how much the crank moves compared to when the rotor moves, if say, the crank moves 1/4 turn before the distributor moves, you know there's a lot of slop. This is an exaggeration, I think 1/4 turn is really bad, but 1/8 even is sloppy. You will know, you will feel it and see that there is excessive play in the timing set. I only chimed in because I've been there with a 318 with stock nylon timing gears, it makes a real difference when you change out to a double roller. If the engine is stock never rebuilt, the timing set can be a possibility. Rough idle, no power, hard start can be symptoms. As you said it was running fine and all of a sudden changed, that indicates a possible hard failure or jumped timing possibly. I am not saying tear the engine apart, but check it.