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ChevyCowgirl · 06-13-2005, 03:33 PM

My dad thinks that this buick lesabre is the best car ever and he doesnt see why I want to drive an old chevy truck. He doesnt understand that the buick is a grandma car and that I NEED a truck for the farm work. Before we decided to completly redo my truck he was all about it he had me running here and there for him all the time to pick stuff up that he couldnt haul in his car. And then I bought the buick and hes decided that i should stick with it. Well Im not going to be driving it any longer than i have to be. Fair season is coming up soon and I cant haul hay straw and TMR in a car.
Ive been doing some work on my truck today though. I put the exhaust mannifolds back on and also hooked up radiator hoses and the steering column. Before I have to go to work i would like to have my brakes hooked up.
Also, all of my plug wires are unhooked, how do I know which wire to put on which plug???

**COBALT** · 06-13-2005, 03:55 PM

Yeah that sounds like my dad. He's Mr. Practical. He thinks his old 1986 Ford Tempo is a collector's item, because it's a reliable car.

He's totally lost when I explain how cool my truck will be some day.

As far as your plug wires - one thing at a time:

Do you know which one is the #1 terminal on the distributor, and has the distributor been seated correctly (through the intake at the rear of the engine)?

Basically your plug wires are hooked up in this order going clockwise: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. This is what's called the engine's "firing order". It means cylinder #1 fires first, then #8, then #4....As the rotor spins under the distributor cap (as your engine crank and cam turn over) the terminal on the rotor makes contact with the terminals on the underside of the cap making the high voltage connection from your engine's power source down the plug wire to the spark plug for each cylinder. Each one fires in turn in that order as the cylinders move up and down in the bores. It's all synchronized. The cylinder is supposed to be compressing fuel and air at the very moment the rotor under the distributor cap makes the connection for that park plug. BUT...the distributor has to be set correctly...otherwise the spark plug will try to ignite what's in the cylinder at the wrong time...and your engine won't start. Getting the timing right on an engine is a very common and sometimes difficult problem to work out.

The cylinders are numbered 2-4-6-8 on the left side and 1-3-5-7 on the right side. So as long as your distributor is seated correctly all you have to do is hook up the #1 wire, then the #8, then the #4, etc, and work your way around the distributor until they're all hooked up....

...but your engine timing may be WAY off if your distributor isn't set correctly. One good thing to have in any shop is a basic Haynes manual for these Chevy trucks. In the engine section they outline the firing order, how to set up the distributor, checking the timing, etc.

**COBALT** · 06-13-2005, 04:14 PM

Here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

Buy this manual and keep it handy while working on your truck. You won't be able to use this thing word for word, but it will help you through some basic stuff, and it has some cool ideas on how to debug things like your ignition system, checking timing, vacuum, compression, etc.

06-13-2005, 03:55 PM	#2
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	Yeah that sounds like my dad. He's Mr. Practical. He thinks his old 1986 Ford Tempo is a collector's item, because it's a reliable car. He's totally lost when I explain how cool my truck will be some day. As far as your plug wires - one thing at a time: Do you know which one is the #1 terminal on the distributor, and has the distributor been seated correctly (through the intake at the rear of the engine)? Basically your plug wires are hooked up in this order going clockwise: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. This is what's called the engine's "firing order". It means cylinder #1 fires first, then #8, then #4....As the rotor spins under the distributor cap (as your engine crank and cam turn over) the terminal on the rotor makes contact with the terminals on the underside of the cap making the high voltage connection from your engine's power source down the plug wire to the spark plug for each cylinder. Each one fires in turn in that order as the cylinders move up and down in the bores. It's all synchronized. The cylinder is supposed to be compressing fuel and air at the very moment the rotor under the distributor cap makes the connection for that park plug. BUT...the distributor has to be set correctly...otherwise the spark plug will try to ignite what's in the cylinder at the wrong time...and your engine won't start. Getting the timing right on an engine is a very common and sometimes difficult problem to work out. The cylinders are numbered 2-4-6-8 on the left side and 1-3-5-7 on the right side. So as long as your distributor is seated correctly all you have to do is hook up the #1 wire, then the #8, then the #4, etc, and work your way around the distributor until they're all hooked up.... ...but your engine timing may be WAY off if your distributor isn't set correctly. One good thing to have in any shop is a basic Haynes manual for these Chevy trucks. In the engine section they outline the firing order, how to set up the distributor, checking the timing, etc. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA. Last edited by COBALT; 06-13-2005 at 04:03 PM.

06-13-2005, 04:14 PM	#3
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books Buy this manual and keep it handy while working on your truck. You won't be able to use this thing word for word, but it will help you through some basic stuff, and it has some cool ideas on how to debug things like your ignition system, checking timing, vacuum, compression, etc. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

06-13-2005, 03:33 PM	#1
ChevyCowgirl Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Edinboro Pa Posts: 42	My dad thinks that this buick lesabre is the best car ever and he doesnt see why I want to drive an old chevy truck. He doesnt understand that the buick is a grandma car and that I NEED a truck for the farm work. Before we decided to completly redo my truck he was all about it he had me running here and there for him all the time to pick stuff up that he couldnt haul in his car. And then I bought the buick and hes decided that i should stick with it. Well Im not going to be driving it any longer than i have to be. Fair season is coming up soon and I cant haul hay straw and TMR in a car. Ive been doing some work on my truck today though. I put the exhaust mannifolds back on and also hooked up radiator hoses and the steering column. Before I have to go to work i would like to have my brakes hooked up. Also, all of my plug wires are unhooked, how do I know which wire to put on which plug???



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