340 no can start

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ScampMike said:
true story - got my known to run 360 installed, set everything up and it wouldn't start.. tried a few times by adjusting the distributor left and right, still nothing. Checked some wires, good. Getting fuel? yep. Spark? you betcha - reset the dizzy to "about" where I remembered it being and tried again - nada. OK, did I install the dizzy 180 off? Changed it - rechecked everything again, tried it - STILL nothing.. well :wtf:? Adjust left, adjust right - zip. By now I have tried 6-8 times and the battery is fading.. time to quit, leave the battery on a charger - CU 2morrow.
Next day, same basic crap - only now the battery is spinning it up really nice.. tried a few mores times - now I'm getting that "thunk" sound I mentioned before - deep inside the engine.. like it's firing out the exhaust.. so I pulled the #1 plug... WOW - fouled heavy - very wet and very black. I took each one out, cleaned them off with a tooth brush and some carb. cleaner and reinstalled them.. Pumped it one time and hit it - VAROOM!
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I know for a fact this happens to people.:D
 
TrailBeast said:
Karl, I feel like we need to know it if even has everything it needs to run first.
Then details like flooded or timing off.
The wet plug check wouldn't hurt anything to find out though, but it still won't start without spark and just keep washing cylinders.
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He states in the first post that he's getting spark at #1, so I went along assuming that he had good spark....

mpaahana23 said:
340
changed the distributor brand new msd ready to run
hooked it all up

put it to zero top dead center rotor face the number one
get spark at number 1
but still no like start
get gas pressure is 6lbs holley blue
charged the battery
am I missing something
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ScampMike said:
true story - got my known to run 360 installed, set everything up and it wouldn't start.. tried a few times by adjusting the distributor left and right, still nothing. Checked some wires, good. Getting fuel? yep. Spark? you betcha - reset the dizzy to "about" where I remembered it being and tried again - nada. OK, did I install the dizzy 180 off? Changed it - rechecked everything again, tried it - STILL nothing.. well :wtf:? Adjust left, adjust right - zip. By now I have tried 6-8 times and the battery is fading.. time to quit, leave the battery on a charger - CU 2morrow.
Next day, same basic crap - only now the battery is spinning it up really nice.. tried a few mores times - now I'm getting that "thunk" sound I mentioned before - deep inside the engine.. like it's firing out the exhaust.. so I pulled the #1 plug... WOW - fouled heavy - very wet and very black. I took each one out, cleaned them off with a tooth brush and some carb. cleaner and reinstalled them.. Pumped it one time and hit it - VAROOM!
Moral of the story - sometimes it's the simplest damned things..
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WOW
I hope its that
 
krazykuda said:
He states in the first post that he's getting spark at #1, so I went along assuming that he had good spark....
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You are correct, sorry.
I would also go for distributor position then.
As well as plugs and possibly even firing order verification after that.
 
mpaahana23 said:
WOW
I hope its that
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so do I!! - but it's just an experience I felt might help.. there are so many little things that can trip you up. Don't do what I did and just keep trying because you KNOW you did it right (I might have a touch of arrogant in me) - if it's not showing signs of life in a couple of tries, then you may want to go back to "page 1" and make SURE you have EVERYTHING hooked up correctly. Good luck with it!
 
A few years ago a buddy rebuilt and hopped up us 70-390-javelin. Brand new Garner exhaust, etc. Popped in a new MSD distributor, everything was new in the motor. He got backfire and blew a very expensive muffler. Tried everything, had spark, timing right. had another very knowable car buddy come over.....same issue.

One thing I noticed off while working on the POS, was an unusually wide gap in his distributor. I put in an pertronix, and its around .030. His visually appeared to be a .100. After some online checking on my phone, sure enough, gap was suppose to be .030. Had to send the distributor in for another one. MSD does not always mean quality....
 
ScampMike said:
so do I!! - but it's just an experience I felt might help.. there are so many little things that can trip you up. Don't do what I did and just keep trying because you KNOW you did it right (I might have a touch of arrogant in me) - if it's not showing signs of life in a couple of tries, then you may want to go back took "page 1" and make SURE you have EVERYTHING hooked up correctly. Good luck with it!
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ok
 
ok
here we go again
turned motor to the other side so rotor facing other way
pulled distributor then dropped it in again rotor facing number 1
then tried to start it and nothinggggggg
same thing just spinning
I'm lost

and I'm getting spark
 
I'm sure you checked ... but do you have the firing order sequence correct?
 
I had to look it up. I know the 4-7 is 18736542.

The other swap I call the Cadillac firing order. That one I never remember.

It's 15436872.

In the 18436572 5 and 7 fire together. If you swap 4 and 7 then 4 and 2 fire next to each other. 4 and 2 normally run a bit cooler so firing those two together isn't that bad.

The big dogs swap 4-7-5-2 so no side by side cylinders fire one after the other.
 
firing-order-jpg.jpg


Firing order and distributor rotation.

Firing order (but not distributor rotation) is the same with the following:
  • 273
  • 318
  • 340
  • 350
  • 360
  • 361
  • 383
  • 400
  • 426
  • 413
  • 440
AKA every mopar V8. Only difference is that big blocks the distributor rotates CCW.
 
mpaahana23 said:
the firing order is 18436572? I have a 340
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If this is NOT a reverse rotation marine engine 18436572 is correct

Guy, there is NO reason you should not be able to set it up and start it just as if it was sitting overnight

1....Remove no1 plug, stick your finger in and bump on the starter. When you start to feel compresson on your finger, STOP, and look for the marks "coming up."

2....Wrench or bump the engine until the timing mark "comes on up" but do NOT set at TDC. Rather set where you want timing to be, 10BTC or so for a stock cam, and 15 even 20 for a "hot cam" Set the mark there

3...Drop the dist. in so the rotor is approaching the no1 coil tower as it turns CW. Set the dist so the reluctor is in the middle of the pickkup coil

4....You can check timing "on the starter." Hook up your timing light, crank it a few turns and you should be able to see the mark, chaulk or otherwise "whiten" it if necessary.

5...Since you've been messing with this, pull enough plugs to insure you don't have them all gas fouled (wet)

6...Make SURE you have fuel by pumping the carb, look for the accel. pump to squirt

7...Make sure you have some FRESH fuel. If there is any question at all, throw a tablespoon or so down the carb throat

8...You should now be able to crank it and AT LEAST get a "pop" or backfire or try to start and run

9....If this does not work, check your valve settings. Maybe something is wrong. Run a compression check on 3 or 4 cylinders at least

10....RE check RREEEEEE check your spark. Do this by "rigging" a gap at the top of the coil tower, and check BY CRANKING WITH THE KEY. This is because power is routed different in crank vs "run" at the key
 
ScampMike said:
t.. so I pulled the #1 plug... WOW - fouled heavy - very wet and very black. I took each one out, cleaned them off with a tooth brush and some carb. cleaner and reinstalled them..
Click to expand...
Same deal w/ my 1965 383 decades ago. I had just come back to the U.S. w/ a small son and temp living in a motel where I knew few people and wife still overseas. With battery getting low and feeling desperate (how to get to work?), I decided to try new plugs. Saw a faint coating of black carbon on the white ceramic. I tested one and saw it wasn't sparking at the tip, but rather conducting thru the carbon. It had been too-rich initially and I didn't know that alone could disable you (never liked that Rochester WWC 2 bbl carburetor). With new plugs, it fired right up. Switched to my 69 Dart slant six from the storage yard since though it like to idle rough (lean Holley 1920), it always started.
 
Are you making sure to have it set back a little bit when u install it. You can't just drop it in with the rotor poi ting in the right direction as it will shift when slid into place. I'm sure you know this but still it happens.
 
no it wont shift. Were not talking Ford or chevy geared distributors....Mopars are slotted to mate with the gear on the oil pump shaft thats already in the motor.
 
Well my slant is slotted as well but at an angle. You need to set it back a tooth cause it will rotate as it drops in. I'm my slant anyways. And your right my chevy sdoes it too.
 
Phily said:
Well my slant is slotted as well but at an angle. You need to set it back a tooth cause it will rotate as it drops in. I'm my slant anyways. And your right my chevy sdoes it too.
Click to expand...
yep - but as stated above - there are only two ways to put the distributor we are dealing with here in - correctly or 180 degrees off. The oil pump shaft has a slot in it that the dizzy fits into
upload_2017-7-1_16-10-49.jpeg
 
Phily said:
Well my slant is slotted as well but at an angle. You need to set it back a tooth cause it will rotate as it drops in. I'm my slant anyways. And your right my chevy sdoes it too.
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"Moving" only happens on the distributors where the drive gear is actually on the distributor. The B/RB/ all early/ late (426) hemis, and all SB V8s just have a straight tang

I've said this many times, and one member on here pointed out "it can point to China."

The reality is........you can close your eyes and just throw the distributor shaft in any old way, and then throw the distributor in right after it. Does not matter.

Find no1 compression, set the timing marks and then plug the no1 wire in wherever the rotor is pointing. It WILL run. My first car was a 265 57 Chev. Hell I didn't know there was a RIGHT way to set up the dist. I had it two or three holes off. One day (this was when we had gas stations) the guy checking my oil says, "how does this RUN, it's OUT OF TIME!!!" "Whut?" "Yeah, your plug wires are all in the wrong place"

WELL I DROVE IT IN THERE !!!! LMFAO
 
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