Ok, about to replace the plugs, wiring, ignition and dist cap and I had a question about the firing order. I found this diagram of the firing order, but mine does not match it: http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44869&d=1111890926 Wire #7 is above the window and #2 is to the left of it on my car. All the wires follow that order, but they appear to be shifted over 1 in the dist cap. Should I wire the plug wires according to this diagram or does it not make a difference? I have a 72 GS 350 engine. I noticed when I drive the car, it is sluggish off the line, but ok when going. Could this be the problem? Let me know!! Thanks, Brian
The picture shows the correct firing order. If your 2&7 plug wires are switched, you should improve a lot by correcting this. But first, you should quadruple-check that since the engine would run REALLY bad if these were really switched... -Bob C.
sounds like your distributor was installed a tooth or two off. instead of removing the distributor and setting piston #1 to tdc, it was easier to move the plug wires by one to compensate for the screwup.
Something like this happened to me probably 20 years ago when I had my Vette. I "correctly" wired my new wire set, and got a flame through the carb and blew a valve cover. It turned out my harmonic balancer was mounted in the wrong position (by the previous owner), and the wires were juggled to compensate for it. Thank God for mobile auto services! Not sure if your situation could be anything like this, but I would do a little more research before changing your current firing order. Best Wishes,
I would make sure your mark the #1 wire placement on your dist cap with a marker, and make sure you start there with #1 when you start back. And follow the correct firing order from the diagram. And after you put that together, get you timing set correctly. Good luck.
All my plug wires are shifted to the left(clockwise) in the cap. Would this cause it to ping, etc. when I give it gas off the line? I took it for a drive and noticed this. I will wire it the right way when I pull the parts and see how it goes. My car starts ok and runs fine once it is running, so hopefully wiring the cap right will fix the problem. So, basically everyone has wire #1 to the left of the window and so on, correct?? Brian
So wait, are you saying I should keep the #1 wire where it is now on the cap when I rewire it or use the diagram?? Brian
Assuming it's running well enough now, you have two choices if your number one wire doesn't sit on the cap where the diagram shows: 1. Leave #1 wire where it is, but make sure the rest follow number one in the correct order. Set ignition timing. 2. Bring cylinder #1 up to TDC on the compression stroke. Pull the distributor if necessary, turning the shaft manually to make sure the rotor is pointing toward the #1 wire tower as shown in the diagram. Install all wires into the cap per the diagram. Set ignition timing. The trouble with option 2 is that you may have to work a bit to get oil pump enagement again if it was necessary to pull the distributor & turn the rotor. Devon
Doesn't matter where the #1 plug wire is as long as the firing order is followed around the cap, and the engine is timed correctly. The wire placement in the diagram is just the way it came from the factory. I ran for years with my wire placement 1 over from where it is in that diagram. It makes no difference whatsoever other than aesthetics. If you move the wires to match the diagram, you will in all likelyhood need to pull the distributor and reset the position.
Thanks again. I will just leave it the same then once I change out the plugs, wires, etc... The firing order is correct, just moved over to the left one, but you answered what I needed to know!! Thanks, Brian
I have a Buick Skylark V-8 340-2 my timing is off and i am wondering if the place ment in the linck on the first post is the same for my model
Yes, same firing order. Again though, the wire placement can be moved over one way or the other as long as the distributor was installed so that the rotor fires #1 at the correct time. If you can adjust the initial timing using a timing light and turning the distributor, then the wire placement in the cap is satisfactory, even if it doesn't match that picture in post #1. See my thread on power timing: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=63475
i fixed the timing prob but i whent 2 take off the carp to rebuild it and 2 bolts snaped in the intake ...ive been tryin 2 get them out the past weeks but now im just gona drill it out and put thread inserts in
Your carb bolts froze? That's a new one on me. Take the intake manifold off before you drill those holes out.
An easy way to check if a cylinder is firing is run the car for a few seconds when it's cold and touch the exhaust port of the cylinder in question. If it burns like hell, then you know its firing.
