took distributor out, dropped it back in, now it won't start

[tomtoc]

i took it out briefly for clearance to get to another part. i left the wires and everything hooked up. did what i needed then dropped it back in.

now the truck won't start and i assume it's something with the distributor. it's trying, but just won't turn over. what would i have done?

 

[Skandocious]

Make sure you didn't bump a connection loose while you were fiddling with it.

Did you remove the WHOLE distributor? Because it has to go back in in the correct position or the engine will be way out of time.

 

[tomtoc]

Make sure you didn't bump a connection loose while you were fiddling with it.

Did you remove the WHOLE distributor? Because it has to go back in in the correct position or the engine will be way out of time.

connections should be good - as for putting it back in correctly...doubtful - crap (checking for old pics of my engine)

 

[john112deere]

now the truck won't start ...it's trying, but just won't turn over.

Is it turning over but not catching, or not turning over?

 

[tomtoc]

well i guess turning over (as in craking), but not firing and starting. i'll go try to re-align here in a few minutes

 

[tomtoc]

good news: i'm getting quicker at taking it out

bade news: i made it worse

i made it how it looked in one of my old pictues and now it cranks for like 3 seconds then quits.

 

[Bob Ayers]

First, check and make sure you are getting spark, pull the coil wire and hold it close to the block. If you are getting spark, then you have a timing issue.
If the distibutor dropped all the way back in without bumping the starter, then more than likely it lined up with the oil pump, and you should be able to
bring it back in time with just rotating the distributor some.....

Good luck!

 

[tomtoc]

getting closer now - chris called me to help. my timing was WAY off. it starts now, but runs horribly still and doubt it has enough power to move itself. i only let it run a few seconds, but i think my timing is still way off

 

[Bob Ayers]

getting closer now - chris called me to help. my timing was WAY off. it starts now, but runs horribly still and doubt it has enough power to move itself. i only let it run a few seconds, but i think my timing is still way off

Do you have a timing light?

 

[tomtoc]

it works now. it's not great and i'm sure a timing light would help, but it runs "enough". i'm going to take it somewhere monday and have them time it and pay them to install this other thing that i don't want to deal with.

 

[Brian_B]

You could still be a tooth off. I had one a tooth off once and it would run....but not well at all.

I also had one slip once. How it started...I have no clue. It would not pull the weight of the truck up the hill by my friends house with the throttle on the floor. It drove fine going down to his house....no clue what happened.

 

[Skandocious]

Please PLEASE everyone, don't give me ALL the credit. Goose gave me some pointers for how to help him... So I guess I'll just take ehh, 95% of the credit

Hope you get it running right Tom. Noticing any strange behavior other than power loss? Is it backfiring or pinging or anything like that?

 

[tomtoc]

seemed to be ok...just a little off. i might try to mess with it again one more time tomorrow. i haven't really driven it at all. it just started enough to get to work/the shop on monday so i left it alone. i spent far too much time messing with it.

sounded fine enough my wife thought it was fine, but i can tell it's off. i don't think i'm doing any damage