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I changed my plugs and wires today and now my car wont crank it was cranking fine before but i new they needed to bechanged.Help me out. I did not gap the plugs but wouldn't it still crank. the last ac delcos i put in i didnt gap those. these are Autolite 685. with accel superstock wires
By not cranking are you saying it won't turn over at all? Does it turn over and not start? Does it start to turn over then stop? Need more info. Not that I think it has anything to do with your problem, but why don't you take a few seconds to gap plugs before you install them?
Oldman2
Probably got the firing order wrong or your coil wire isn't on all of the way. Some coils/wires require a special adapter or "tower".
The car turnsover but wont fire up. Sometimes it seemslike it wants to fire but doesnt. could it be bad wires. i think i'll try putting theold wires on andsee what happens. It should be in the right order i pulled them one at a time. I dont know what the gap should be how do i find out. I'm new to doing this stuff myself but want to learn. This is a rebuilt 74-75 350
I checked the plugs and the plugs are dry. I'm going to gap the plugs and see what happens. would the car not fire if the plugs aren't gapped? It has stock heads with headers and air gap intake and 1.6 comp roller rockers.
Yes i pumped it before i tried to start and all the wires should be in the right place because i took them out and replaced them one at a time. Would the car not fire if the plugs arent gapped?
Question
What type distributor are you running? While changing the wires did you perchance unplug the HEI?? Is it still points?
I dont think its any way the wires could be wrong if i took them off one at a time. The car cranked fine before this. I hear accel wires arent good could they be faulty? Does these autolite 685s have to have the right gap in order to fire? what is the firing order and which side is #1 plug on? I new to this.
#1 plug is left front. Firing order 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.
I've only put about 15K miles on this rebuilt engine. What does this mean if The timing chain jumped Denny?
Its a 74-75 350
First of all, you have to start using the right terminology if you are going to give us the correct info so we can help.
You say the engine won't CRANK. That means you turn the key and nothing happens, the engine doesn't turn even one revolution, or.....
The engine won't START. That means you turn the key and the engine spins over but doesn't start running on it's own.
Which one do you have??????
Don
The engine turns but doesn't fire up
Good, now it is clearer what is going on.
So the car ran ok before you did the plugs and wires, is that correct? When you bought the parts what did you tell them so they could pull the correct items?
Even if you pull one wire at a time, it is possible to still screw up the order. I have done it more than once, and I suspect it happens alot. What you will want to do is retrace all of your steps. Someone on here will probably be able to post a wiring diagram for the plug wires. Check yours one by one against that.
Plugs are not pregapped in the box. One plug may fit a whole bunch of applications, so you gap them to the car you are doing. They can also get bumped and close up the gap, so you have to check it. You can even bump it putting them in the hole.
That being said, gaps can be way off and the engine will still run, but maybe not really good, so you have something else going on. Did you pull the cap off the distributor?
You are starting to get us good info, so we might be able to help.
I see Denny was posting while I was typing, great now you have a diagram to follow.
Don
Ok so the #1 plug is on the driver side? No i didn't pull off the distributor. and the car was running fine
You were right I was outside with my flashlight.
Make sure all of the wires are seated on both ends, too. Make sure the ends that go into the top of the distributor are clicked down all the way, and also make sure the plug ends are not just sitting out there on the rubber boots. They have to be also clicked on tight.
The wire from the coil to the distributor is the one you really want to check.
PS: Don't hold onto that phillips screwdriver while you are cranking it, especially the metal part.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Don
I checked and all the wires are in order
This is going to be a real longshot, but if your car is carburated (gotta learn how to spell that word **) ) Pull off the air cleaner and look down into the bore while you manually open the throttle (key off) Do you see any gas squirting into the barrels?
It would be a real bummer if you just ran out of gas, or were getting none for some reason.
Don
When i tried cranking with the screwdriver in the #3 plug i didn't see any spark. What does this mean?
Wouldnt the rotor be fine if i had no problem with the car before and all i did was pull out the plugs and replaced them withnew ones? I hadn't even touched the distributor exept to snap on the wires.
what does this mean if i didnt see any spark when i tested it with a screw driver in a wire? The wire wasn't suppose to be near any metal right?
I think it's time for AAA.
Don:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I do have an open mind i just didn't think thatnothing shouldbewrong with that since it wasn't right before i pulled the plugs but maybe so. thanks for trying to help me out you guys these are things i need to learn!
I feel Denny's pain.:D :D :D :D :D
Here is the problem. We have been trying to guide you through one of the most basic checks that can be done, checking for spark. Denny has graciously tried to tell you how to do it, but you aren't following through. You have to hold the metal part of the screwdriver close to the block (or intake) while someone cranks the engine, and you are looking to see if a spark jumps that small gap. It won't jump the gap if it is over that 1/4 inch.
I know you are inexperienced, so maybe you are getting in over your head. I am afraid, because you are playing with gasoline and sparks here. You could cause more trouble than just an engine that won't start.
Get some knowledgeable person to come and help you, and watch what they do. It is tough enough to help solve some engine problem over the computer anyway, but if the person has no idea what you are telling them it is really hard.
JMO,
Don
Oh so it has to be 1/4" away to check. Okay my bad.
Its gotten late so i can't get my girl to go outside and crank it for me again so ill try it tomorrow thanks for the help
Some basics.
If you have a problem, describe it fully and accurately.
When people tell you what to check, don't argue it. You're the one looking for help and others have the experience to help you.
Carefully read the advice you get and if you don't understand it, ask for an explanation.
Follow the advice.
Accurately describe the result of the test.
There are a lot of people on this forum that are less than impressed with Accel. I doubt that any of them feel that a new set of plug wires from Accel are so bad that your engine won't even start. I think that the majority who have contributed to this thread feel that as careful as you were, you messed up the sequence of plug wires. Most of us have done that somewhere along the way. To eliminate the possibility of something coincidentally happening, they have asked you to check for spark. This is basic. No spark, no run. If you are not getting spark, odds are you've accidentally disconnected or altered something. If you are getting spark, odds are a mistake you made messed up the wiring sequence.
Don't do it with a screwdriver, you will shock the hell out of yourself. Clamp the metal part of a sparkplug to some bare metal on the engine with a pair of vise grips. Hook the plug wire to it and crank over the engine. You will be able to see a good blue spark if everything is OK.