Engine update: antifreeze leak

[dubie]

Well we worked on the truck last night and got it all sealed back up. After getting so many suggestions on how to clean out this engine I took Bills advice. I also consulted a couple mechanic friends of mine and they said there wasn't a ton of coolant in the engine so it was n't very severe.
I followed Bills instructions below

"We have always drained it, wipered down the lifter galley area. Sort of flushed it with cheap oil, reassembled, filled cheap oil, ran it, drained refilled with cheap oil ran it a day or so to check for leakes. Drained and refilled....Normally ran it a week or so, then changes again with the good stuff. "

I kept the plug out and ran 5 litres of cheap oil thru the engine and halfway thru flushing, the oil became clear again. After it was done flushing, I installed the plug and a new filter and dumped some more of the cheapo oil in. We installed the intake with new gaskets and sealant, hooked everything up, brought the engine to TDC dropped in the dist. and lined up the rotor to fire on #1 . Turned the key and she WOULDN"T FRIKKIN START!!
Kept turning over and popping like a popcorn machine. So I figured I would take the distributor out again and re time it. Got her all back together again, SAME THING!! NO GO. By that time I was out of time and patience with the mosquitos, so I called it a night. I came into work early and tried it again, Brought the engine to TDC (#1 cylinder was blowing out and the mark on the ballancer was at zero) dropped in the dist. lined up the rotor, dropped the cap on, hooked up the wires, made sure the firing order was right, and turned the key, STILL NO LUCK!!!I must be doin something wrong here guys. Before this leak, the engine would fire right up, but I also had some troubles with timing it before. I am gonna take another stab at it after work and see what happens.

Thanks for all your help and thanks for listening to my bullsh!t I gotta get this thing running

[Yukon Jack]

You'll get it - I would have guessed firing order got mixed up but sounds like you have looked at that already. Good luck buddy!

[gr8scott51]

...use witness marks. A mark on the distributor and intake to make sure you put it back in the same way you took it out. Did you put in HEI? Make sure your hot lead is connected to your harness, mine works loose sometimes. Good luck, Tim.

[StingRay]

Are you sure you are at TDC compression? If you are at TDC exhaust it will do what you are saying. You can check for TDC compression by putting your thumb over the #1 spark plug hole and as it approaches compression your thumb will pop off of the hole. Or just spin he dizzy 180 degrees and try it again. Also try messing with the timing at it's extremes. You may be one cog out on the gear.

[dubie]

I think I am 1 tooth out, after sitting here thinking about it, and talking with one of our mechanics. Gonna give it a try at coffee time and see if thats the problem.

Ray: I'm sure it was on compression. I had Shawna stick her finger over the hole as I turned it over by hand. Then we brought the mark up to Zero on the balancer and went from there.

Scotty: Yeah I have HEI and the first time I fired it , I sure enough forgot to hook up the wire, but she's all hooked up now.

Mark: The firing order was the first thing I checked. The last time we did this, we had 5 and 7 mixed up, so I didn't want to make that mistake again

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. I'll keep ya updated guys

[CPNE]

Originally Posted by dubie

IRay: I'm sure it was on compression. I had Shawna stick her finger over the hole as I turned it over by hand. Then we brought the mark up to Zero on the balancer and went from there.

Bump it with the starter. If you are turning by hand, it may be difficult to sense compression. It should literally blow her finger off the hole when on compression stroke (assuming good rings :p ). Once that happens, you should be close to TDC and you can adjust to TDC by hand. I think that is your problem. Being a tooth off would allow it to at least fire and run, albiet poorly.

My 2 cents, good luck and we expect a full report as to exactly what the solution was.

[dubie]

you can bet on that Jeff

[dubie]

ok we have it running again woo hooo!! but it's running rough. It's letting out small burping back fires but will hold an idle. What should I now look for to get rid of this back fring ? am i still out by a tooth?? the firing order is correct.

[thisolechevy]

Get a timing light!! you can get a cheap one for like $30.00 at auto zone, the cheap ones work too! It will save you time and money

[StingRay]

Yup check your timing

[jhow66]

Backfiring out pipes or carb--if out of pipes you have a fouled plug or two (you said it was running rough--got gas fouled when you where trying to start it). Take out plugs and clean them (ones that are fouled will be wet.)

[dubie]

yeah, I figured I might have fouled a couple with the amount of cranking it took to get the pig to go again I will remove all of them ,inspect, and clean what needs to be cleaned

[ts71281]

Originally Posted by dubie

I kept the plug out and ran 5 litres of cheap oil thru the engine and halfway thru flushing, the oil became clear again.

Please don't say you were running your engine with the drainplug out and adding oil at the same time.........

[dubie]

No way bud. The plug was in when I was flushing it with oil. then after it has 5 litres in it, I pulled the plug and let it all drain out before installing the plug again and refilling , and installing the new filter