Sac79 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 So I finally decided to try and start the truck today. It started to catch life by about the 5th or 6th attempt. Unfortunately it would not continue running. I had the accelerator all the way open from the start, it never got above 500RPM and only ran for about 15-20 seconds, then it would stutter and die. With everything being so simple, I have to believe it's just timing. It's a HEI dizzy, Edelbrock 1404 carb with manual choke. Unfortunately the distributor clearance(or lack thereof) does not allow for an easy adjustment. I'll have to take it out and do some grinding/filing to give it more adjustment options. Any ideas what else it could be? I have a short video, but no where to post it(I suppose I could create a YT account). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I wouldn't try to start one by opening the throttle fully. Instead I would set the choke and the open the throttle briskly to shoot fuel in with the accelerator pump, and crank. As soon as it catches I'd start pushing the choke lever in, meaning take the choke off, slowly. If you crank too long with the choke on you can flood it, and if you don't start pushing the choke off as it starts it might die. As for what else it could be, give that a try and then think about other things. But correct timing is very important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I would start by static timing it at 10° BTDC, if you can't get that Chevy distributor to that position you are probably never going the get it to run correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 As for what else it could be, give that a try and then think about other things. But correct timing is very important. So is plenty of power. I've seen that you're a wiz at wiring but I'm wondering how it's sourced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac79 Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 As for what else it could be, give that a try and then think about other things. But correct timing is very important. So is plenty of power. I've seen that you're a wiz at wiring but I'm wondering how it's sourced? Bill, others have been able to get this distributor to work, so I'm sure I can too... Jim, what do you mean? How is the power sourced? To what? Are you asking me, or Gary? I'm no whiz at wiring, I followed simple instructions... If you meant to the dizzy, it's from the dedicated coil power supply and since Painless is geared towards GM products, I assume(yes I know) they know what's required for an HEI. Anyway, I'm going to go and try it again shortly, the battery is charging now. And I'll take the dizzy out tomorrow and do some modifying to enable more adjustment. I'll be mowing the rest of today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Bill, others have been able to get this distributor to work, so I'm sure I can too... Jim, what do you mean? How is the power sourced? To what? Are you asking me, or Gary? I'm no whiz at wiring, I followed simple instructions... If you meant to the dizzy, it's from the dedicated coil power supply and since Painless is geared towards GM products, I assume(yes I know) they know what's required for an HEI. Anyway, I'm going to go and try it again shortly, the battery is charging now. And I'll take the dizzy out tomorrow and do some modifying to enable more adjustment. I'll be mowing the rest of today... Yes, you. I know nothing about the Painless universal harness, but you've had great success working the kinks out! So, I don't know what or where that "dedicated power source" supply is coming from. What I do know is hei is hungry, and if it doesn't get fed it glitches out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Bill, others have been able to get this distributor to work, so I'm sure I can too... Jim, what do you mean? How is the power sourced? To what? Are you asking me, or Gary? I'm no whiz at wiring, I followed simple instructions... If you meant to the dizzy, it's from the dedicated coil power supply and since Painless is geared towards GM products, I assume(yes I know) they know what's required for an HEI. Anyway, I'm going to go and try it again shortly, the battery is charging now. And I'll take the dizzy out tomorrow and do some modifying to enable more adjustment. I'll be mowing the rest of today... You mentioned interference in fitting the distributor, the results you are getting sounds like you have it severely retarded, From what I remember on the GM built units, static timing is when the points on the trigger align with the ones one the trigger coil. If you can get that condition at 10° BTDC (Ford timing scales run from 10° ATDC to 30° BTDC. Make sure you are on the BTDC side. Wherever you can get the trigger/pickup "points" in alignment at #1 TDC use that to locate the plug wire tower for #1. Then be sure you are in the correct 153624 firing order. Good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac79 Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 Yes, you. I know nothing about the Painless universal harness, but you've had great success working the kinks out! So, I don't know what or where that "dedicated power source" supply is coming from. What I do know is hei is hungry, and if it doesn't get fed it glitches out. Thanks Jim, but it really is simple. I guess it's not impossible that the power supply is not sufficient, but the default wiring is for a HEI, as in that's the way the harness is set up, anything else requires modification. The distributor feed comes straight from the fuse box with it's own 30amp fuse. So changing the power supply would be my last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac79 Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 You mentioned interference in fitting the distributor, the results you are getting sounds like you have it severely retarded, From what I remember on the GM built units, static timing is when the points on the trigger align with the ones one the trigger coil. If you can get that condition at 10° BTDC (Ford timing scales run from 10° ATDC to 30° BTDC. Make sure you are on the BTDC side. Wherever you can get the trigger/pickup "points" in alignment at #1 TDC use that to locate the plug wire tower for #1. Then be sure you are in the correct 153624 firing order. Good luck with it! Thanks Bill, but no joy this morning I'm afraid. Couldn't even get it to run as long as yesterday, so it wasn't just me misusing the choke. I believe it's retarded too. I aligned the distributor at #1 TDC, or as close as I could with limitations I had. I believe it is ATDC if anything, but I can't believe it can be that severe to not run, but obviously it is. I'll play around with it tomorrow and try to get it to 10BTDC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Thanks Bill, but no joy this morning I'm afraid. Couldn't even get it to run as long as yesterday, so it wasn't just me misusing the choke. I believe it's retarded too. I aligned the distributor at #1 TDC, or as close as I could with limitations I had. I believe it is ATDC if anything, but I can't believe it can be that severe to not run, but obviously it is. I'll play around with it tomorrow and try to get it to 10BTDC. Remember, on the six banger, turning the distributor CCW advances timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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