FIRST REREAD WHAT THIS GUY POSTED:
........do you have a volt/ohm meter?
you can pick up a cheap one for for less then $20
put it on ohms and check the resistance of each wire. the long ones will have more then the short ones But if you have a bad one it will be obvious, as it will be way hire then the rest.
take a good look at your cap and rotor....in fact i might be best to just replace them.
Now, that you have done all of that, here is how you check you timing chain.
role the motor over to tdc then remove you dist. cap. Rotate you motor in the other direction watching the ign rotor until you see it move. if the crank has moved 12* it need replaced. if it's more.......It probably has jumped.
I don't think it's you chain.
To clarify the above, rotate the engine with a wrench CW, then CW, watching the rotor for movement. The timing mark should not move more than 10-12* against the "slop" in the chain
. Only thing I did not check was a compression test because I do not have a compression tester.
Nick
You NEED a timing light, dwell/ tach if you have points, vacuum gauge, and compression checker. You NEED to get these
What is the easiest way to tell whether or not the distributor is 180 out? I found top dead center and it points forward where number one is on the distributor cap.
The engine won't run at all if "180 out" but one easy way is you need the "compression stroke" for no1, not just bringing the "mark" up. So you remove no1 plug, stick your finger in the hole, and bump the engine with a remote start switch. You might have to "go round" a couple of times before you get this. AS SOON AS you start to feel compression on your finger, look at the timing marks, they should be "coming up." Bump/ rotate the engine to about where you run the timing, IE 8* BTC or whatever, and be sure the rotor is approaching/ at the no 1 plug tower
I always scribe a line on the dist. rim centered below the plug tower so I know where to look. Then rotate the dist RETARD (CW on smallblock) AND BACK CCW (advanced) slowly, until the points open, or until the relutor tip is centered on the core of the pickup coil. THIS SHOULD BE close enough for the engine to start right up.
(Obviously in your case, just "check" it don't move it, but you've already checked it with a light, right)
only one contact inside the silicone boot was kind of far into the boot itself. Each wire was also good there was no breaks in it.
Not sure I get this---wire just may have slipped, but this kind of thing can also break connections. You MUST check them with a meter Shake them around as you check them, looking for intermittent spots inside the wires
For the timing issue and the timing being retarded, I timed the car today, plugged the vacuum advance line, and set the timing to 5-7 degrees advanced.Nick
OK, but what have you done to insure that both the mechanical and vacuum advance are actually working? To do that you either need the balancer degreed, or timing tape, or a "dial up" delay timing light. You should be able to rev the engine, vacuum disconnected, and see the mechanical move. You should also be able to remove the dist. cap, and "spring" the rotor CW, and it should freely 'spring back' showing the advance is not sticking.
You should be able to jack up RPM by jamming a screwdriver in the idle cam or just jacking up the fast idle, then disconnecting / connecting the vacuum advance. You should both hear the engine speed up, and be able to see the timing move up
Also, check your timing marks for accuracy. Very very easy. Get, build or buy a "piston stop."
http://www.jerrybramlett.net/images/pic_installation.jpg
Remove no1 plug, determine that the piston is "down a ways", and disconnect battery ground. Install the stop. If you've made it or first time use, you'll have to adjust it so it's long enough to actually touch the piston at some point
Gently wrench the engine over CCW until you stop the piston "on the stop." Make a temporary mark on your balancer under TDC on the timing tab. Do the same thing rotating CCW. Now you'll have two temporary marks some distance apart. True TDC will be halfway between the marks, and if the original is still accurate, that is where it will be.
ONE LAST THING. Something I've found incredibly usefull is what many call a "cylinder balance test" which can QUICKLY find a dead/ weak cylinder.
CAREFULLY pull the dist. boots up off the towers a small ways. If you have a 12V test lamp with a nice slim probe, use that. Otherwise, jam paper clips or small nails (brads) down into the towers right beside the wires. Now with the car at a fast smooth idle, use your test lamp or a probe to ground one plug tower at a time. Use your tach if possible, or just your eyes and ears. EACH cylinder should "drop" the same RPM and "wiggle" the engine the same as the next. A weak/ dead cylinder will become fairly obvious most of the time.
