RTH Won't start after working on it (1 Viewer)

[musthave]

I was working on the cruiser for this thread What happened? Loss of power, shudder. HG? Finished it up, now it turn over. It has gotten close a time or three but stumbles in 1 second and dies.

I had replaced the fuel and @flintknapper said "Good to change the fuel filter every 75K or so. Be sure to slot the hole in the filter nearest the engine block. Use NEW crush washers on your banjo bolts. It's not a real fun job, but should be done occasionally. "

Wasn't sure what was meant by "slot the hole in the filter nearest the engine block." So I didn't slot anything. Could that be my problem?

When I replaced the distributor cap and rotor and I had the crankshaft tickmark lined up with zero. That's correct?

 

[Tedward]

Slotting the fuel filter only makes it an easier job to install and remove. Doesn't effect how it performs.

As for the the orientation of the rotor....that's a longer story but not hard to do. You may be 180 degrees off. I have to go but someone will fill you in on making sure that is right.

 

[Landseer]

Maybe a silly question but are the spark plug lines connected to the appropriate plugs on the distributor cap?

 

[musthave]

Spark plug wires are connected to the distributor correctly. Double verify that. I'm guessing that my distributor cap/router is 180° off but I don't know how to verify that.

 

[musthave]

As for the the orientation of the rotor....that's a longer story but not hard to do. You may be 180 degrees off. I have to go but someone will fill you in on making sure that is right.

How can I tell if it is 180° off?

 

[musthave]

Took off distributor and reset things, started right up. But, my original problem is still present. Crap

 

[flintknapper]

Spark plug wires are connected to the distributor correctly. Double verify that. I'm guessing that my distributor cap/router is 180° off but I don't know how to verify that.

Trying to read back on all of this and see where we are.

The issue you were having was present BEFORE you did anything with the distributor, correct?

If you removed your distributor to replace the O-ring (large one) it is important to first turn the engine over (by hand at the crank pulley 30mm socket) until you have the engine up to TDC (Top Dead Center) on the # 1 cylinder (just a tad before that is actually better).

Then mark the distributor body AND the rotor position. It is not possible to have the distributor CAP or ROTOR out of phase 180°, but it is possible (happens all the time) to rotate the engine past TDC or to install the distributor back onto the engine in a fashion where you position the rotor past the #1 cylinder point on the cap.

The distributor has a helical gear on the end of it, so when you remove the Distributor you will see the rotor move C/C to about the 11 O'Clock position. So naturally, when you reinstall the distributor you must start with the rotor pointing at about the 11 O'clock position so that it rotates BACK C/W to the approximately the 1 O'clock position (#1 cylinder) post on the distributor cap. All very easy IF you marked everything first.

IF you are 180° out.... the engine either will not start, or it will run like crap IF it does start.

Sounds like you had oil INSIDE your distributor at some point? IF so....replacing the larger O-ring that seals the dizzy body to the engine will NOT fix that problem, there is a smaller O-ring in the distributor that prevents oil from reaching the area inside the cap which can definitely cause mis-fires if enough oil is present.

Please respond with a summary (in this thread) of what you have done...so we can have it all in one place (don't need two threads to go back and forth between).

You have replaced:

Plugs
Plug wires
Rotor
Distributor Cap
Fuel Filter

Anything else?
What else have you checked?

There are no codes, correct?