2.8L V6 wont stay running. When running it hesitates. It hesitated when I tried to drive it.

[franklin2]

#1 is the grey plug c102. It has a brown/pink wire that is hot in start.

#2 is the round plug c107 you said you broke. It has a white with blue dots wire that is hot in run.

These two wires are tied together at butt splice A. This is the main power feeding the ignition system. On the other side of butt splice A, power splits and feeds the coil + wires and the ignition module + wire. The wires to my coil are red and green because I replaced my coil plug with a aftemarket replacement, my original fell apart. If you have original coil wires, they will be white with blue dots and darkgreen/yellow dot wires.

#3 is the loom containing 3 wires that goes to the duraspark distributor. Two of them are the signal wires and the other one is a ground wire.

C is a wire nut with all the ground wires in it.

 

[franklin2]

The picture below shows the connection to the new distributor on the other end of the loom. I just used slip on connectors and slid them on the flat prongs inside the plug. There is just 3 connections, ground and the two signal wires. The two signal wires do not have a polarity, they can be plugged in either way to the module.

duraspark to hei wiring by D Franklin, on Flickr

 

[MadMax_636]

IM back. I got the distributor today. The rest of the parts are coming on friday.
I also have a question about the timing mark on this motor and the bolt the holds the junk distributor on since Ive never had to deal with moving the timing or finding TDP before. Ill post a video I recorded what I found and assume is the TDC mark.

 

[AndyB.]

I believe the distributor hold down bolt is a 13mm, but you might be able to get it with a 7/16”. The bolt and clamp are behind the distributor, accessible from the passenger side—I use a box bed wrench, curved end down, underneath the AIR tube.

That mark is not the timing mark, I think that’s where metal was removed to balance the pulley. You’ll need to read the numbers on the scale and mark it with chalk. I’ll try to find a picture of the scale.

 

[MadMax_636]

I believe the distributor hold down bolt is a 13mm, but you might be able to get it with a 7/16”. The bolt and clamp are behind the distributor, accessible from the passenger side—I use a box bed wrench, curved end down, underneath the AIR tube.

That mark is not the timing mark, I think that’s where metal was removed to balance the pulley. You’ll need to read the numbers on the scale and mark it with chalk. I’ll try to find a picture of the scale.

Thanks! The air tube is the tube/hose that goes along the back to both the manifolds? Im sure they are welded shut.

The mark does seem to have numbers on one side of it. The other side is rough/rusty looking.

 

[AndyB.]

I didn’t have the distributor hold down bolt or clamp in place for this picture, but maybe it will help.

You can see the scale on the crank pulley here. Each minor division is two degrees, major is four degrees, so chalk the small bash mark before 12 to get 10°.

 

[MadMax_636]

I didn’t have the distributor hold down bolt or clamp in place for this picture, but maybe it will help.

You can see the scale on the crank pulley here. Each minor division is two degrees, major is four degrees, so chalk the small bash mark before 12 to get 10°.

Thanks, So mark in between those timing marks/timing degrees marks for TDC.
Im trying to figure out how to get TDC just by using the timing marks since ill need that to even set timing.

 

[AndyB.]

Top dead center is the 0 degree mark, but you don’t set timing to TDC.

 

[MadMax_636]

Top dead center is the 0 degree mark, but you don’t set timing to TDC.

Sorry, Im confused. You dont set timing to TDC?

From what Ive been told, when changing the distributor you have to set it to TDC and then use the timing marks or the degree marks for timing..

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[AndyB.]

You can set the engine at TDC on the compression stroke, so the rotor will point at #1, and you can get it close to where it will fire. You can also point the rotor to some landmark someplace on the engine, and install the new distributor so it’s pointing at that same place.

When you go to start this after your conversion, you’ll want to have the timing light hooked up and the distributor a little loose (so you can move it to get the timing set).

 

[franklin2]

Warning: Putting the pointer on those marks is not necessarily TDC #1. You have a 50% chance of getting it wrong, and then the engine won't run.

If you have never moved the old distributor, and it was running, put the pointer on the TDC mark and then pull the distributor cap. Is the rotor under the cap pointing to the #1 sparkplug wire? If it is, you are good. If the rotor is not point to #1 sparkplug wire, then turn the engine around again till the marks line up again. It should be pointing to #1 this time.

The crankshaft turns around twice, for each time the camshaft turns once. So you have a 50-50 shot at getting it right, unless you have a running engine and can check the rotor position, or you take the #1 sparkplug out and put your finger over the hole while turning the engine. When air tries to blow your finger off the hole, you know you are on the compression stroke.

 

[franklin2]

I believe the distributor hold down bolt is a 13mm, but you might be able to get it with a 7/16”. The bolt and clamp are behind the distributor, accessible from the passenger side—I use a box bed wrench, curved end down, underneath the AIR tube.

That mark is not the timing mark, I think that’s where metal was removed to balance the pulley. You’ll need to read the numbers on the scale and mark it with chalk. I’ll try to find a picture of the scale.

13mm is best. 1/2" wrench is very close but a little tight. 7/16 wrench is the same as 11mm wrench.

 

[MadMax_636]

Warning: Putting the pointer on those marks is not necessarily TDC #1. You have a 50% chance of getting it wrong, and then the engine won't run.

If you have never moved the old distributor, and it was running, put the pointer on the TDC mark and then pull the distributor cap. Is the rotor under the cap pointing to the #1 sparkplug wire? If it is, you are good. If the rotor is not point to #1 sparkplug wire, then turn the engine around again till the marks line up again. It should be pointing to #1 this time.

Thats what I was thinking about doing. Pulling the cap to the old junk one, Then cracking the motor over by hand and getting it to point at the first cylinder. Then mark it and spin it again. Im watching a video on the MSD ignition youtube channel with David Freiburger.

 

[MadMax_636]

13mm is best. 1/2" wrench is very close but a little tight. 7/16 wrench is the same as 11mm wrench.

Thats for the hold down bolt? Im assuming since the crank is a 19mm. Im hopefully going to harbor freight tomorrow to get the rest of what I need. Should I get angled wrenches to do this?

 

[franklin2]

Thats what I was thinking about doing. Pulling the cap to the old junk one, Then cracking the motor over by hand and getting it to point at the first cylinder. Then mark it and spin it again. Im watching a video on the MSD ignition youtube channel with David Freiburger.

Once you have the marks on TDC, and the rotor was pointing to #1 wire, you are good, you can leave it there. That is assuming the engine was running and the distributor hasn't been moved.

When you go to pull the old distributor, watch the rotor has you pull it out. You will notice it turns as you pull it up. You will want to put the rotor on your new distributor a little to one side like the old one came out, and then as you stab it in place it will naturally turn a little bit as it drops.

Thats for the hold down bolt? Im assuming since the crank is a 19mm. Im hopefully going to harbor freight tomorrow to get the rest of what I need. Should I get angled wrenches to do this?

Yes that is for the hold down bolt. That bolt can be difficult to get to, and it can be tight the first time you try to get it loose. I had a complete arsenal of wrenches and sockets. I think I had to use a wrench to get it loose initially, and then a 1/4 ratchet with a 13mm socket may have been used some also. If I remember correctly, I took the brake booster hose off, and took that large throttle bracket off behind the carb to help me clean up that area back there. After I did that, access to the distributor was much improved and I actually was able to get to the bolt from the driver's side. When I was done I put the bracket back in place and hooked what I needed back up.