85 Ranger engine problems..help!

[RangerBaby07]

Hi...so i have an 85 ranger with a 2.8L bored out .03 over and i am having huge issues with timing or carb.It has a comp cam for high rev limit.
I have been told i possibly have the cam in backwards?? i dont think that is possible as the cam has the gear for the distributor so it can only go in one way..right?
Also i had sold it for a year to some kid and when i got it back the plug wires were wired completely backwards but it ran and now with the wires on correct it wont run....any ideas?
I am at my wits end with figuring out the problem.lol please help!

[85_Ranger4x4]

Is the dizzy timed correctly?

If it is off you can fudge on the wire placement to make it work, if you unfudge it things will be mixed up because it isn't timed right to the rest of the engine.

The cam could be off any number of teeth as well. It only goes in one direction but it may not be timed right to the crankshaft.

[RangerBaby07]

It must be all effed up then.i got the dizzy timed as correct as i could.and its not running at all now. so my next move i am gonna pull off timing cover and see if the timing marks are lined up. love my truck but its a pita lol
thank you for ur help!!

[enginepaul]

If it ran before, the cam is probably correct. I can't think of a reason to pull a cam and then replace it - but anything can happen.
I'd spend time on the distributor. Make sure that when No. 1 piston is at TDC, the rotor is pointing at the post the No. 1 wire is connected to. That may not be the No. one on a diagram; the distributor may have been rotated one or more post off.

Let us know.

[dangerranger83]

My old 2.8 dizzy wires were all rotate a tower to the next due to when I installed it for the duraspark, I got it a tooth off and didnt want to re-pull the dizzy.

[kimcrwbr1]

Put the timing light on each wire and crank it until you see the timing mark. Use that tower for the #1 plug and set the firing order from there. Have you done the duraspark conversion if everything is how it should be I would suspect a vacuum leak. The easiest one to miss is on the back of the intake maniflod that used to go to the vapor cannister it pionts strait back toward the firewall. Get a vacuum guage it needs to be 17 hg or above at an idle set the timing at 10 degrees btdc with vacuum disconnected and plugged then adjust the idle air needles for the highest lean vacuum reading usually around three or more turns out fron lightly seated position. Make sure the choke is fully open and engine is up to temp before making any adjustments. You must adjust the idle air screws any time you change ignition timing.

[RangerBaby07]

So recently i have had the carb rebuilt and set back to factory specs.I slapped it back on and it fired but was running horrible.kept backfiring and popping back through the carb. i pulled off timing cover and set the timing marks on the gears back to where they belong.Ive messed with the timing over and over, moved plugs back and forth on the towers and still cant get it to fire correctly,just keeps backfiring like crazy! thinking about replacing plugs,wires, cap and rotor....any other suggestions?