Technical What would kill every other cylinder????

It ran, with the distributor 180 degrees out ?

Ummmmmmmmmm

 

Don't fuck around, do it right.

 

Yes, if the wires are moved 180. It's easier to move wires than re-stab a distributor, so this is pretty common actually. The distributor doesn't care which terminal is #1, so long as the firing order is correct.

After messing with it I realized this is is a great auto shop final exam in school. Pull the distributor and roll the engine over by hand a few times. Turns out that's exactly what they did!

 

Yes all that's needed is to position the spark plug wires 180 degrees out. The engine don't know and don't care where the rotor is pointing. When number one cyl is at TDC on the compression stroke. Wherever the rotor is pointing that's number 1 cyl. Many decades ago I quit worrying about if my rotor position and plug wiring looks like some picture in a book or is factory correct. I own timing lights but almost never use them. I will use a dwell meter tach and vacuum guage.

 

First thing that bothers me is people that mess with old (pre electronic control) ignition systems and don’t own a timing light or dwell meter. They are cheap, buy them, learn how to use them.

Next is compression and leak down testing equipment. If you are going to mess with old cars you will need them. Again, in the grand scheme of building cars you are talking about spending almost nothing considering they will last your entire automotive career if taken care of.

3rd. Some engines (SBC) it does matter if the distributor is out 180 because the distributor body has a groove that directs oil flow. Do it right.

Learning the correct order of trouble shooting can go a long way in this hobby. Get the proper tools, learn to use them and work smarter.

Thread after thread in the HAMB is someone trying to work without the proper tools. Why? I just don’t get it.

OP, do a complete tune up and fix your carb.

SPark

 

Meh,

Seems like he acknowledged that the problem was most likely the carb in post #8, but wanted to wait for his buddy. He also wanted to verify the engine is mechanically fine with a timing light and compression tester.

Now, sure to anyone who futzs with cars this may not seem like the correct order of operation, but pulling a Carter 4G apart may be intimidating. It's not like a Holley 6150/6160 where every shop has some kind of gasket kit for it. He's being cautious, left the HAMB @ 8:30 and probably had some libations and sleep. It's Sat morn, probably still snoozing.

 

Any chance he used a fuel stabilizer ?

 

I turned wrenches for over 40 years for a living. And I always used a timing light. And a torque wrench.

 

I agree. A bolt does not feel the same to me at 10:00 PM as it does at 10:AM.
Pete

 

Well Moriarity nailed the problem in post 4 in that one side of the carb is plugged and not feeding the 4 cylinders in question.
Grabis (the op) confirmed that with his drawing in post 14. Kerrynzl's photo in 25 shows the flow of the intake.
Now the bullshit artists come out with their half assed theorys including not needing a timing light. I've straightened out too frigging many "we always set them by ear" cars in my lifetime to follow that crap. For every guy that actually can set one by ear there are are 25 that get them so screwed up they won't run worth a damn.
If you don't have a timing light or compression gauge you can go down to Autozone and get them and pay what amounts to a deposit, take them home use them, then take them back and get your money back when you return them. Not a bad deal on something you may not use again for another year or so.

Still that carb is going to have to come off and be rebuilt and as someone mentioned earlier unless you have done a lot of carbs that one is rather intimidating to do.
I

 

The oil directing groove in the small block chevy is in the dist body. you have to position the body so the vacuum advance will clear. And that Small block chevy will feed both of the oil galleys no matter how the body is positioned. how do I know? Because my SB chevy pre oiler is made from a cut down modified dist and I can place that in any position and pre lube a engine and get oil flow at both sides at the rockers. The direction that the dist rotor is pointing has nothing to do with any engine oiling. the rotor is driven by the cam gear and thru shaft and is independent of the outside body. I commonly on purpose position a engines rotor in some other position other than the factory correct setting. Just for meaness to stump the next wrench turner!

 

My whole deal with the timing light is.....

How is it going to help the carburetor?
The OP stated he was waiting on one. Maybe I have taken things out of context in assuming that the timing light is going to be the magic bullet and no work can proceed until the timing light says so.
I understand what's going on.
I have done such myself.
There is a problem.
You know what it is.
You don't want it to be that problem.
So.....you check everything under the sun unrelated to that problem......
Hoping that it is not what you know it is.

 

never heard of a Carter 4G carb. the Chevys used a Carter WCFB or a Rochester 4GC. Years ago I learned to run the overhead on a cummins diesel. set the top stop injector by removing the play and turning the adjusting screw 1/4 turn. never owned a inch pound torque wrench. ran the rack on dozens of engines never any problem. Once I majored a little 290 cummins and the owner and driver where present when I was running the rack. The driver got mouthy about me not using a inch pound tork wrench. And that driver imagined the overhead wasn't set correctly. so he took it to a name brand shop and paid $200 to have the rack run. And they wanted me to reimburse that. So after that I always got my inch pound tork wrench out when running a rack. Never used it but to made folks think I did. A tork wrench if you drop it can get miss calabrated. If the threads are loose or tight it will not be accurate. Now a timing light. If the dampner isn't 100% correct its not going to be accurate. slack in timing chain and can & dist gear wear effect timing. I tune for the highest steadiest idle at idle using a tach and adjusting the idle screw on the carb. use a vacuum guage also. I advance timing to where it runs best and not kick back on the starter. retarted timing kills performance and will burn piston tops. Lean fuel conditions will also burn piston tops.

 

Yep everyone suggested that the carb was the most likely problem. And he still want's to dance around and mess with other stuff? Ive ran across lots of poor running engines that had lots of different stuff wrong because they where chasing a problem. Correctly Diagnosing the trouble at the very start rather than willy nilly changing parts and creating more trouble is the difference between a competent mechanic and a guy who thinks he is a mechanic. If you ever turned wrenches for a living you know you gotta turn out completed jobs in a reasonable amount of time and not have comebacks. Ive seen commission shop mechanics spent a entire day trying to get a Q jet to work. You cant buy groceries putting kits in Qjets on commission. I refused to work on them.

 

Don't know how long the engine in my '62 Tempest was like this before I noticed.

Better check yours.

 

Back 50 years ago I was at George Rays. and there was a couple of brothers who had a 57 chevy convertible. had a set of those factory 2 four carter carbs. and they had to rotate the dist back to get it to start and then advance it to get it to run. likely a loose timing chain. and it also burned oil. they cleaned the plugs between rounds. and they won their class. Back them if you won class you qualified for a chance at the big money at the end of the day. and shure enough those brothers went for the money. they weighed the cars and a formula was derived by pounds of body weight per cubic inch of engine displacement. So they where spotted several car lengths . And they made it to the final race against a high dollar car. They got beat barely & took home a couple of hundred. They must of twisted that dist (a old dual point Mallory) a couple of dozen times during the day. and never once used a timing light. I heard them telling someone they had to time it 180 degrees out to make it work?

 

Slingshot,
I've lost my ass a time or two but never 4 cylinders.
Pete

 

Take a squirt can a shoot a little fuel down each side of the carburetor to see if the idle picks up.

 

I worked on a lot of Qjets in my career, usually had no problem making them run right, until I tackled one my buddy had back in the previous century. Nothing I did would make this carb idle and run right, especially at slow speeds. At wits end(this was before the internet) we contacted a local carb shop. He told us the problem was that the jets for the rear two barrels were “ worn to big by the needles banging around in them” common problem he said. I doubted that was the problem, since the carb ran fine wot, but with no other solution in sight my buddy had him replace the jets in the rear two barrels. Put the carb back together, ran perfect. Still having problem figuring that one out.. I liked the Q-jets, because the didn’t have the diaphragm power valve , like the Holley , and would still function after a backfire.
Bones

 

Neither have I, that's why I think him getting some more tools and waiting for a sober buddy is a good idea

 

Hey All,
I pulled the valve covers, timing chain and took the carb apart. Won’t run at all now.
Hardy har har.
Parts store didn’t have the rebuild kit yesterday but transferred one over. Pulled the carb apart today and it had green corrosion and crust in it. Rebuilt to the best of our abilities. Stuck it back on and it fired right up but then ran like crap. Whistle indicated we forgot to reconnect the brake booster vacuum. Stuck that on and everything is much happier now. Learned how to set dwell and got the dist in a place that seems okay. It starts, idles and revs without hesitation now.
Thanks as always for the knowledge and abuse. It’s much appreciated. Next is a leaking heater control valve and then maybe the newly reupholstered seats and door panels go in.
Thanks guys!!!!!!


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You are obviously correct Old Wolf, I misspoke after one too many interweb articles.


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I've seen many of those time it by ear guys at the track who wonder why their engine runs hot and burns pistons.

 

Goes with the territory.

 

I hope you drained all the shitty fuel out of the tank.

 

Thanks for coming back to report the cure. Sorry for the abuse you had to take to get it. We are a bunch of grumpy old men who think everybody can work on their cars anytime they want. The days of being able to get a carburetor kit off the shelf at parts stores have passed. They don't sell enough carb kits to cover the interest on the money invested. Most vehicles built after 1987 didn't have them.

 

Or won't start.

I knew a guy that set timing by ear, and points by eye.
Very proud of his incredible ability.
So I get called to get this 292 started, after the genius bailed.
No Dwell. No spark. No nothing.
He set the points gap, on the bottom of the cam !

 

Yep, that was done earlier when sorting through a different issue. Looks like a newer tank and the old gas came out pretty clean. Carb still smelled like varnish though.


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Did you clean/change the fuel filter ?

 

The OP still should buy a timing light because............................You can never have enough tools