318 help

-
E

edward9egan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
48
Reaction score
1
Location
rocklin
so i just swapped the stock cam in my 318 to a comp cam that is 268/268 duration and 454/454 lift. at the same time i put on some heads that have been opened to 1.6 on the exhaust and 2.02 on the intake and put on a freshly rebuilt holley 650 vacuum secondary. now when i go to start it all it does is turn over it wont catch and run. i already checked for spark and fuel. any ideas what it could be the only other think i can think of is timing
 
edward9egan said:
so i just swapped the stock cam in my 318 to a comp cam that is 268/268 duration and 454/454 lift. at the same time i put on some heads that have been opened to 1.6 on the exhaust and 2.02 on the intake and put on a freshly rebuilt holley 650 vacuum secondary. now when i go to start it all it does is turn over it wont catch and run. i already checked for spark and fuel. any ideas what it could be the only other think i can think of is timing
Click to expand...


bring the engine to 0* on the harmonic balancer. then pull the dizzy cap and look were the rotor is pointing. should be pointing right at the #1 spark plug. check that its not 180* out. then check firing order.
 
Did you line the dots up on the timing chain?
If the dots align, then.
I would say you are 180 out, I did the same mistake when I was 16 and changed my first cam.

Pull #1 spark plug, have a friend "bump" the starter.
Place your finger over where the plug was.
When you feel a big rush of air, point the rotor button towards #1 wire.
Fire it up and adjust the timing.
 
Try the above suggestions of picking up the distributor and rotating it 180*'s and drop it back down. I bet your cat starts right up.
 
alright so i flipped the distributor 180 and still nothing. any other thoughts on what might be going on?
 
Can you be more specific. Is it trying to fire, does it backfire? Are you getting spark to the plug? Are you getting gas in the carb? Are you positive the firing order is correct?

I could go on, but you get the picture. It's hard to even think about without being there and seeing/hearing what's happening.

You're our eyes and ears so to speak.

What all did you do exactly? Essentially you have to help us help you.
 
ya i've checked the firing order quite a few times. im defiantly getting spark and gas. when i turn it over it doesn't try to start or anything. no back fires nothing. it seems like i'm not getting spark but like i said i've checked that and double checked it. i did put some bigger plug wires on it with the stock distributor and coil but i didn't think that shouldn't cause any problems.
 
Since you've altered the heads and valvetrain, I have to ask.....Are you sure your getting any compression?
 
edward9egan said:
Ok thanks any idea what compression I should expect
Click to expand...

That's a good question. I'd think anything in the 60,70,80lb. range or higher would at least be enough to give you some fire.

Check a few plugs while you're at it to make sure the're not getting drowned and have maintained their gap also.
 
You need to get right down to basics. Is there ANY chance the cam was installed wrong?

The engine should AT LEAST either fire, cough or spit back through the carb.

"How much?" spark do you have? How have you checked it? Right at the coil, cranking with the key, you should have AT LEAST 3/8--12" long nice fat blue spark

How does the cap and rotor look?

How do the plugs look? Not three days ago, NOW

...............

Compression. Run a compression / leakdown test. Are the valves for CERTAIN opening and closing, do you have good compression, and is the cam in time?

..............

Fuel. Have the neighbors "been helping" with fuel? How long has the car been sitting? In other words, are you CERTAIN the fuel is good?
 
That's good stuff right there...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.


It just hit me that the cam is not broken in yet:banghead:. Sorry I dropped the ball on mentioning this earlier. At the very least, I hope you have a good break-in oil, and possibly a additive too. All this extra cranking can do nothing but harm to that fresh cam & lifters.
 
67Dart273 said:
And it just hit me that a member on here ran himself ragged for days? on end over a new cam to find that it was a fecking REVERSE ROTATION marine cam!!!!
Click to expand...

Yikes! What little hair I still have would have been long gone after that one.....Anchors away...lol.
 
well i finally got it. as it turns out i just had a bad set of sparks. i swapped them cause i was just going through everything i could think of and it fired right up. i did have a break in additive for the cam. thanks everyone for all the help
 
yep got it running, broken in, timed. now i just need to do some tuning with everything
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top