First start up, backfiring - FIXED

[Dino]

After exactly 11 months, to the day, I fired the car up again.  It took a while to get it going but it's going!  It idles real rough which I didn't think much of seeing it sat so long.  But as soon as I give it some gas it'll backfire through the carb, shoot out a plume of smoke through the filter and die.  It starts right up again but before I go one, what do I need to do to make sure everything's okay?  I need to air out the garage as a ton of smoke came off of the headers and exhaust pipes.  Probably from all that cleaning stuff I used.  

I have a new firecore RTR system installed.

[Troy]

So did you set the timing yet? Vacuum hooked up or not? I'm willing to bet the new Firecore stuff will want more initial advance.

Troy

[Dino]

So did you set the timing yet? Vacuum hooked up or not? I'm willing to bet the new Firecore stuff will want more initial advance.

Troy

I did not set the timing yet but that's what I figured as well so I hooked up vacuum advance and no more backfiring.  It idles a bit rough still but I think it'll be alright. 

Bad idea to have it running with the tail pipes about 2 feet from the back wall, my eyes are burning a bit right now.      

The smoke has all cleared though.  Whatever was on the exhaust has burnt off.  The belts squeak with added throttle but that's about all that sounds wrong right now so not too bad!

I ran it through the gears and added some trans fluid so that's good.  I also ran the heater for about 5 minutes (as if it needed to get hotter) to make sure I have enough coolant in there.  I'll check once it cools down.

Fuel gauge reads a tad over half with 10 gallons on board, temp is around 180, oil pressure reads in the 30 range although I didn't check if it changed the last few minutes.

I can do without the ignition and gear selector lights for now, the buzzer will have to wait as well.  The cluster will come out once the tach is done anyway so I'll have another shot at it.

I have a few minor things to do here and there and it'll be back on its wheels.   

[Troy]

What did you use as a reference to put the new distributor in?

Troy

[firefighter3931]

Dirk, try disconnecting the vac advance and plug the hose to prevent a vacuum leak. Next, get the timing light out and set the initial timing to 16-18* BTDC and rev the engine up to 3500 to check the total timing. You're looking for 38* total timing. With that cam it's going to want lots of base timing. 


Ron

[Dino]

I need to go out and get some vacuum plugs.  the ones that were on there disintegrated on contact.

This is really stupid of me but do you know I was so eager to put the car back together I forgot to paint the timing marks?   


There's a local mechanic who has been taking care of our cars for years that I really like and he's a total mopar freak so I'm thinking that I may drop it off when I'm done with it so he can do timing, tuning, and check all the bolts.  You never know I may have missed something.

I really don't know how to set timing with a light but I was able to get my car to run real nice last year with a vacuum gauge so at least I can do that before I take it out.

I just fired it up again and it's starting to sound much better.  I think it didn't like being asleep for 11 months.

[NHCharger]

Dino, Get the timing light I posted below. Real nice unit. You can dial in what you want your initial timing at. Also shows, volts, dwell, RPM's. It has a split screen so you can see your timing and RPM's when you're dialing in your timing. I had a small Sears engine analyzer that I tossed after buying this.
As far as the timing mark I dabbed a little White Out on the timing mark on the damper. Makes it much easier to see with my 55 year old eyes.


http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-5568-Pro-Timing-Light-Tool/dp/B000EVU8J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398909910&sr=8-1&keywords=innova+pro+timing+lights+5568

[Dino]

Dino, Get the timing light I posted below. Real nice unit. You can dial in what you want your initial timing at. Also shows, volts, dwell, RPM's. It has a split screen so you can see your timing and RPM's when you're dialing in your timing. I had a small Sears engine analyzer that I tossed after buying this.
As far as the timing mark I dabbed a little White Out on the timing mark on the damper. Makes it much easier to see with my 55 year old eyes.


http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-5568-Pro-Timing-Light-Tool/dp/B000EVU8J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398909910&sr=8-1&keywords=innova+pro+timing+lights+5568

Woah that is nice!  Thanks for the link!

That tach readout is great!  I was wondering how I was going to calibrate my tach and this will do it!   

The previous owner of my house left a bunch of tools and one is an old Craftsman timing light.  I tried it once but I wasn't quite sure what I was doing.   

Since the car is still on stands I can probably paint the mark from below.

[NHCharger]

I also use it when adjusting the carb (Proform 750 DP). I have the vacuum gauge attached to the base of the carb and with the timing light hooked up I can watch both vacuum and RPM's as I adjust the corner idle screws on the carb.
Still scratching my head on the vacuum adjustments

[Dino]

The car is back on the ground but unfortunately it won't start now.  It backfired through the carb once and now it just cranks and cranks with nothing going on.  It's not a fuel problem, I get plenty of that.  I guess the dizzy needs to be turned a bit but don't know cw or ccw. 

Any suggestions?

[firefighter3931]

Dirk,

Get a helper inside the car to turn the engine over while you slowly rotate the distributor until it fires. It's possible that you flooded it and the plugs are wet 

I'm going to assume that you're getting spark ?

Cw is advancing the timing....ccw is retarding the timing. 


Ron

[Dino]

Thanks Ron!   

You know I just thought of something.  A few years back I had the same problem and it turned out to be the battery.  I just measured between the poles and I only get 12.16 volts.  I had the battery on a charger all morning and it never got past 30% charge.

Can I assume the battery is the problem seeing it started way better yesterday?

I did so much cranking and having lights on that it may have been too much for it.

[firefighter3931]

Yep, a weak battery will certainly make it more difficult to fire up. A fully charged battery will read 13.5 volts or slightly more. I'd leave it on the charger for several hours and see if you can get the voltage up. 


Ron

[Dino]

Yep, a weak battery will certainly make it more difficult to fire up. A fully charged battery will read 13.5 volts or slightly more. I'd leave it on the charger for several hours and see if you can get the voltage up. 


Ron

I got one better!  Autozone gives 3 year replacement warranty and it's only 2.5 years old so I'm going to pay them a visit!   

Well that's a relief.  I was hoping it was the battery.

Thank you my friend 

[68CoronetRT]

An easy way to remember the timing direction is "Rotation Retarded" meaning that when you spin the dist. the way of the motor it will retard the timing. These motors spin CCW so it's easy to remember.

Also can your problem be old bad gas?

[Dino]

Good to know, thanks!

The gas is good, it's only a week old.  The car ran yesterday, for quite a while so I'm not sure what the issue is right now.

I went to Autozone with my battery and they said it was fine but needed a charge so they charged it up for me.  I put it back in the car and I have plenty cranking power but not even the slightest hint of wanting to start.  I check the voltage on the battery again and it's only 12.2!! WTH!!!  It was 12.1 when I pulled it!  Something's not right here.

I'll try turning the dizzy once my helper is free.

Maybe I should have my daily try to jump start the Charger...

[Dino]

Jump starting did not work either. 

I'll try rotating the dizzy while cranking but it'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I sure hope that does it because I'm out of ideas.  I didn't do anything to the car since yesterday when it did start.

Now I also found a leak under the rear axle, that's new as well.   

[firefighter3931]

Dirk,

Check the voltage at the positive connection on the coil in both the run position and cranking position of the ignition switch. 

You need 12V to fire the engine and keep it running when you release the key. 

If you repeatedly pumped the gas while trying to fire it up the plugs are most likely soaking wet and gas fouled.


Ron

[b5blue]

Time to pull a few easy to get to plugs! Look for fuel.

[Dino]

Although I did not touch the throttle while cranking, I can see fuel in the carb and I can smell it.

The battery now measures 12.08, although Autozone said it was fully charged.  Still, the starter spins like it should.

Here's the kicker:  with key in run position I measure 11.5 volts at the coil and ZERO volts while cranking.  I'm stumped, the car started yesterday. 

[b5blue]

Dino are both the start and run wires tied together? They need to be if running the Firecore RTR dizzy with the full 12V coil.

[Dino]

Dino are both the start and run wires tied together? They need to be if running the Firecore RTR dizzy with the full 12V coil.

Yes, I tied them together on dash side of the bulkhead connector, slots Q and N on the middle connector, and ran a 12 gauge wire from there to the coil.  Since it started yesterday there's either a loose wire somewhere or something went poof.  At least that's my guess.

Since it fired up yesterday, I didn't try it again today and went ahead and bolted the steering column back in place.  I don't think I hit any wiring but you never know.  I crawled under the dash but I don't see anything wrong.

This morning when I tried to start it, it cranked and cranked and when I let go of the key it gave a bit of a hint that it would start but it did this only once.  Since it does give me around 12 volts in the run position, I wonder if that split second of 12 volts made it do that.

[b5blue]

Jump it hot at the coil and see if it hits. Be ready to pull the jumper off.

[Dino]

Jump it hot at the coil and see if it hits. Be ready to pull the jumper off.

How do I do that?

[b5blue]

Batt. + to coil + with a gator clip you can pull off to kill motor. It might start so be ready and it may keep running till the key is off if you keep the harness wires attached to the coil. Get me?  (If "start" is inop. and "run" is okay.)