butterfingers

[Sirshredalot]

Hahaha

That reminds me off the day that I first fired my engine with the tunnel ram...it was the first time the car had been in my ownership and had an engine in it and I was excited.

made sure it had fuel, ...check....made sure all electrical connections where in place ...check.....made sure distributor was set PERFECTLY....check.

So the moment of truth arrives and im scared poopless. (I always get scared when I have never heard an engine fire and theres no exhaust on it...just open manifolds).

I reach down with a screwdriver and bridge the starter with the fuel pump on...nothing...just cranks and cranks and cranks...no fire...till it drains the battery....tried starting fluid....nothing.

Checked plug wires....all attached.....moved distributor..nothing...
I triple checked the carbs and intake for leaks, checked for fuel pressure....it was there...ARGHH!!..

This went on for three days (I only worked on it in the evening).

Until one day right after the battery had just been recharged(again)...I was leaning on the car trying to get it to start by bridging the starter terminals....and then I decided it had to be spark....so ther I have been for an hour checking leads and wires and swearing and kicking loose tools...

I am tired, hungry, mad, and confused....By this time i am kinda delerious and am holding a spark plug(in my hand) against the exhaust manifold....nothing still...DANGIT...i cant figure itout....when all of a sudden as Im leaning into the engine bay with a screwdriver on the solenoid I notice a smal wire hanging below my grommet in the firewall.

Hmmm...I could swore I hooked that up...so I just snapped it back to the other wire like it should have been and like an idiot (still holding spark plug) I bridge the terminals for the hundredth time and without hesitation Im hit with 60,000 volts from my MSD box..

My whole right side feels like a giant cramp as I am rolling on the floor going "uuuhhhhhh....uhhhhhhhhh"...oops....guess I shoulda thought that one out a little more...

But it fired right after that with a few blips of the throttle.

Just goes to show you that we all do dumb things.
Cmon...dont say youve never doen that.

God bless
-Shred

[mldeolde]

IT'S GOOD TO KNOW MY SYCIC POWERS ARE STILL WORKING. 180 OFF SOUNDS FAMILIAR. BEEN THERE DONE THAT....................

[gerbsinmd]

The odd fire V6 loves to have some advance! I thought factory was about 12 degrees. I ran mine about 18 degrees at an idle but switched it from live vacuum to ported vacuum and it ran GREAT! I got over 25 mpg all the time and when I got it out on the road it was in the mid 30's.

[Dannyboy]

Hey guys.
I spoke too soon.........
I first started the car without any exhaust mounted
So I couldnt really tell, but I thought it sounded
really rough at idle.........
Today I was ready to back it out of the garage (so I thought)
Started the car, and it sounded terrible and went real bad
So I figure Im still having the rotor or and/also the distributor
180 off.

[gerbsinmd]

If it ran, I doubt that you are 180 degrees off. A tooth maybe, see if you can get it to run better by playing with the advance. If you can't get it running right by moving the distributor, you are probably a tooth off on the distributor.

[greg72]

Hahaha

Hmmm...I could swore I hooked that up...so I just snapped it back to the other wire like it should have been and like an idiot (still holding spark plug) I bridge the terminals for the hundredth time and without hesitation Im hit with 60,000 volts from my MSD box..

My whole right side feels like a giant cramp as I am rolling on the floor going "uuuhhhhhh....uhhhhhhhhh"...oops....guess I shoulda thought that one out a little more...

But it fired right after that with a few blips of the throttle.

Just goes to show you that we all do dumb things.
Cmon...dont say youve never doen that.

God bless
-Shred

ROFL!! I had a very similar experience with MSD electro-shock therapy

Gotta love it ! Must be one of those things you learn from experience , like a hot stove


Back to the thread : i agree if you got it to run at all it is probably only off by a tooth or so. Or maybe a bad plug , plug wire.

[bugdewde]

Hahaha

Hmmm...I could swore I hooked that up...so I just snapped it back to the other wire like it should have been and like an idiot (still holding spark plug) I bridge the terminals for the hundredth time and without hesitation Im hit with 60,000 volts from my MSD box..

My whole right side feels like a giant cramp as I am rolling on the floor going "uuuhhhhhh....uhhhhhhhhh"...oops....guess I shoulda thought that one out a little more...

But it fired right after that with a few blips of the throttle.

Just goes to show you that we all do dumb things.
Cmon...dont say youve never doen that.

God bless
-Shred

ROFL!! I had a very similar experience with MSD electro-shock therapy

Gotta love it ! Must be one of those things you learn from experience , like a hot stove


Back to the thread : i agree if you got it to run at all it is probably only off by a tooth or so. Or maybe a bad plug , plug wire.

Similar "shocking" experience here...... except on a motorcycle. Down in Daytona for bike week. Riding with ex-brother-in-law......... in a driving rain storm. My new neon glass ignition wires were grounding out on the rear head of my V-Twin........ unbeknownst to me
Thinking the newly installed boots(with silicone sealant) were leaking rain water into the wire and making the engine miss and run horribly, I reached down to giggle the wires/neon tubes and it would run good....... for a short while.
Once I found the bare spot in the wire's insulation where it had been rubbing a cooling fin, it sent a shock that cramped my left arm and exited out my big toe on the right foot(grounded to the brake pedal)........ cramping it, too. Luckily, I was only going about 30 mph in the driving rain so I didn't have a terrible accident.
I removed them once I got home and currently use one(the other broke) to find cylinder #1 TDC on my VWs and other engines...... it lights up when the dizzy makes contact with the wire .

[vegadad]

Dannyboy,
If your car is a 1976 model and has the stock V-6 installed it is most likely an odd-fire motor.
Another consideration would be a bad control module. I have a 1976 Vega Panel Express witha Buick 231 in it. It ran rather ragged if it ran at all. I checked the timing, Good God it was 58 degrees advanced, so I reset the timing. It still ran ragged so I took the distributor cap off to find an ACCEL control module that looked like toast (my bad experience with ACCEL products, see other post.) Anyway I replaced the control module, set the timing at 10 degrees advanced (stock setting for a Buick V-6) and Blackie runs like a champ. Good luck with your project.