Changed intake gasket, now it won't start

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WSUTARD

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I need help figuring out this problem. Changed my intake gasket, now the engine won't start. I'm getting spark, blue color. Pulled the plugs and I could smell gas on them. Waited a day just in case I flooded it.

I think it might be the timing but I'm not sure. I marked the distributor shaft and the block prior to pulling it so I know it's at the same timing. I forgot to mark the rotor position so I tried it at both rotor positions. I also made sure it was pointin at the #1 plug when the timing mark was showing at the block markings.

I didn't mess with the carb but I'm also not sure what to check on it.

Any thoughts before I tow it to the shop?
 
Distributor of 180 degrees
Plug wires mixed up?

I would reset the timing (make sure your on the compression stroke, not the exhaust stroke) and take its from there
 
Plug wires are correct. Flipped the rotor, nothing.

Any tips on checking for TDC? Never done that before. Assuming I can do it with just looking at the valve springs?
 
WSUTARD said:
Plug wires are correct. Flipped the rotor, nothing.

Any tips on checking for TDC? Never done that before. Assuming I can do it with just looking at the valve springs?
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Did you TIME the engine up? Number one piston has to be up on the compression stroke before you can stab the distributor in. You don't just "flip the rotor" and assume it's right or 180 out. You have to have a starting point.
 
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remove no. 1 plug , unplug coil wire, bump engine over with finger in no. hole, you will feel whoosh of air on firing stroke, hopefully your harmonic balancer says ur close to tdc, i usually set balancer to 10 degrees btdc, put in distributor, hook everything up, make sure 5 and 7 arent crossed, we've all don it i,m sure, hopefully it fires
 
rigger3006 said:
remove no. 1 plug , unplug coil wire, bump engine over with finger in no. hole, you will feel whoosh of air on firing stroke, hopefully your harmonic balancer says ur close to tdc, i usually set balancer to 10 degrees btdc, put in distributor, hook everything up, make sure 5 and 7 arent crossed, we've all don it i,m sure, hopefully it fires
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Yes, to find which cycle you are on, remove #1 plug and place finger over hole and crank it over. When you feel pressure pushing on your finger, you are on the compression stroke. Set it to TDC and position the rotor to the #1 terminal on the distributor cap....
 
Would using a timing light on the balancer also show #1 TDC? I checked with a light and it was at +10 degrees, which is what it was when I started.

Twisted it back down to 0 and still nothing.

I'm assuming this is telling me that my spark is going off at the right time since it corsponds to the timin markings.
 
No. We are telling you how to do it. Frikkin read.
 
Ok. Pulled the plug, felt the air. Flipped the rotor to point toward #1 wire on the cap. (It was pointing opposite) Tripple checked wires were correct.

Still nothing.

Might be flooded now.
 
WSUTARD said:
Ok. Pulled the plug, felt the air. Flipped the rotor to point toward #1 wire on the cap. (It was pointing opposite) Tripple checked wires were correct.

Still nothing.

Might be flooded now.
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Did you line the zero up on the balancer up with the timing pointer?
 
I tried it again this morning. Still didnt fire. However, previously it was just making the standard noise the starter makes when it turns the engine. This morning it made that noise plus what sounded like a 10% effort to fire up. Not sure if this means anything.

I am charging up my battery right now and will try again on fresh power.
 
Another piece of info I forgot about. Based on the advice of the forums I used a gasket that blocked the middle port on the heads and the intake. I guess it is a heat pass through and was told it would have no negative effect on the engine.
 
WSUTARD said:
Another piece of info I forgot about. Based on the advice of the forums I used a gasket that blocked the middle port on the heads and the intake. I guess it is a heat pass through and was told it would have no negative effect on the engine.
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that will have no bearing on engine firing. did you possibly forget to plug in your two wire connector from distributor?
 
timing advance on the distributor
is that hooked up ?

maybe post a few pictures, we might spot something stupidly simple


rigger3006 said:
that will have no bearing on engine firing. did you possibly forget to plug in your two wire connector from distributor?
Click to expand...

he mentioned he had spark
 
WSUTARD said:
I tried it again this morning. Still didnt fire. However, previously it was just making the standard noise the starter makes when it turns the engine. This morning it made that noise plus what sounded like a 10% effort to fire up. Not sure if this means anything.

I am charging up my battery right now and will try again on fresh power.
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it sounds like you are on the right track - it's amazing what a freshly charged battery will do for ya :thumbsup:
 
rigger3006 said:
that will have no bearing on engine firing. did you possibly forget to plug in your two wire connector from distributor?
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Good thinking but I did connect them. Earlier on I had forgotten them.

diymirage said:
timing advance on the distributor
is that hooked up ?

maybe post a few pictures, we might spot something stupidly simple




he mentioned he had spark
Click to expand...
Vacuum tube for the timing advance is hooked up to the carb.

Pictures following shortly.
 
Fresh plugs. Repeatedly fouled ones don't always come back. If you pulled the plug wires from the cap double check your orientation, clockwise 18436572. Why the gasket change? What was it doing before? This is a small block?
 
if it still won't fire for ya- here is what I have done to find TDC - take the cap off the distributor - remove the #1 plug - get the damper set at zero - carefully run a screw driver into the #1 plug hole - if the screw driver contacts the piston right away (in fact, with a flash light you can see the top of the piston) - you're at compression TDC, if not - you are 180 degrees off. Once you are sure you have accomplished TDC make sure the distributor rotor is pointing toward the front of the car... proceed as normal.
 
I would remove the vacuum advance line for now
be sure to cap it at the carb
 
GeorgeH said:
Fresh plugs. Repeatedly fouled ones don't always come back. If you pulled the plug wires from the cap double check your orientation, clockwise 18436572. Why the gasket change? What was it doing before? This is a small block?
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These plugs are a week old and were clean when I pulled them yesterday.
Changed the gasket because I had a vacuum leak over the #6 and an oil leak from the back seal that was dripping down and onto the headers.
Prior to this it would always start up quickly. It would run a little rough due to the vacuum leak.
This is a 340.
ScampMike said:
if it still won't fire for ya- here is what I have done to find TDC - take the cap off the distributor - remove the #1 plug - get the damper set at zero - carefully run a screw driver into the #1 plug hole - if the screw driver contacts the piston right away (in fact, with a flash light you can see the top of the piston) - you're at compression TDC, if not - you are 180 degrees off. Once you are sure you have accomplished TDC make sure the distributor rotor is pointing toward the front of the car... proceed as normal.
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Would this be different than pulling the plug and using my finger to feel for the compression whoosh, then rotating the rotor to the #1 plug wire on the cap?
This is what I did and I set the timing back at 0.
Cranking this engine over by hand will be a real pain as the fan is in the way. Plus I dont have a socket large enough to fit on the bolt head connected to the front of the engine.
 
WSUTARD said:
Cranking this engine over by hand will be a real pain as the fan is in the way. Plus I dont have a socket large enough to fit on the bolt head connected to the front of the engine.
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fan is a little in the way... not having the right socket is an issue.. you should have it.
 
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