New 1988 R30 Classic Custom owner, need help

[gotyourgoat]

There's at least one cylinder not firing. Reminds me of when my truck lets me know the plugs are fouled out from oil and need to be cleaned. Check for fouled spark plugs or bad/not connected wires. Pull the dizzy cap and clean off any deposits on the contacts. Report any or no change.

The fuel gauge pegging out makes me think theres a ground loose or missing.

 

[Big Chip]

I just fixed a problem I had with my truck. It had a really bad stumble off idle at part throttle and this morning it was worse. It coughed back through the carburetor and I’d been screwing with it for a few days. It seemed like it was a lean problem. I decided to see if the distributor was loose because I had that happen once. It was not loose but I could twist it. The timing had moved so far it had become a problem and when I reset the timing it fixed it. Mine seemed like it had a miss also.

 

[af77]

There's at least one cylinder not firing. Reminds me of when my truck lets me know the plugs are fouled out from oil and need to be cleaned. Check for fouled spark plugs or bad/not connected wires. Pull the dizzy cap and clean off any deposits on the contacts. Report any or no change.

The fuel gauge pegging out makes me think theres a ground loose or missing.

What makes you say there is a cylinder not firing? Seems to idle smooth to me.

I just replaced all the plugs and wires five days ago. It was having these issues before I did that. I also cleaned all the distributor contacts while I was doing it, by the way.

I can start it up and pull them off (the plugs) individually until something changes.

 

[af77]

Here is the video (link below).

One minute in I scare the crap out of myself by getting shocked from the distributor cap.
I'm going to use a heat/thermal gun pointed at the headers to figure out which cylinder isn't firing.


I do have a question about the firing order though.
The diagrams I've found online don't match what I'm finding for this engine and the way way he has the distributor wiring going. I need a good distributor/spark plug diagram for a 1988 350 5.7L R30 Custom-Deluxe.

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[gotyourgoat]

Good so the ignition is cleaned and should be working. Plug wires crossed? When i have fouled plugs i can rev in park and it sort of seems ok but on the road is damn near undrivable, vibrations and low on power.
Is this running an egr?

 

[af77]

Good so the ignition is cleaned and should be working. Plug wires crossed? When i have fouled plugs i can rev in park and it sort of seems ok but on the road is damn near undrivable, vibrations and low on power.
Is this running an egr?

I don't know if there is an egr, I don't even know what that is.
I do believe the distributor wiring may be wrong though. I see the firing order stamped on the engine but can't find a diagram for this engine. The ones I've found don't match what I'm seeing wired up here at all.

Edit: however, if the plug wires were all wrong wouldn't we know it? Wouldn't the engine be super shaky and it would run extremely bad even at idle?

 

[af77]

Edit:
Nevermind.

 

[af77]

I do have an EGR system.
Tomorrow I won't. Got the delete kit at O Reily's.


Also, going to put it in ICM mode for ignition firing instead of ECM mode and see if that makes a difference. My distributor may be off.

Surprised nobody has asked me to replace or test the 02 sensor.

I just read the entire Hanes manual for this damn truck, skipping only the break section and a few other small sections. Took two hours.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I do have an EGR system.
Tomorrow I won't. Got the delete kit at O Reily's.


Also, going to put it in ICM mode for ignition firing instead of ECM mode and see if that makes a difference. My distributor may be off.

Surprised nobody has asked me to replace or test the 02 sensor.

I just read the entire Hanes manual for this damn truck, skipping only the break section and a few other small sections. Took two hours.

Ok I know it's a pain in the ass right now but you will get this figured out. One of the problems is that none of us are there with you. But at least with the videos we get a audio clue.

One thing I think it seems like it has a miss to. You can sometimes have an engine idle pretty good, but have a crossed plug wire or ignition timing off. Check the firing order. #1 does not have to be in the same spot on the cap as in the manual, but it must go in the same order and in the same direction, I've always been terrible remembering firing orders so go by the book. You can always mark which ones you move if you do move any if your afraid of making a mistake. #2. Check the ignition timing with a timing light. Vac line to distributor removed and plugged, at idle warmed up. Should be a sticker under the hood with the timing spec. #3. If that doesn't do it, pull all the spark plugs out and run a compression check, we need to be sure we are working on an engine that has compression in all 8 cylinders. It would really suck to find compression issues, but best to find out before more time and money is spent or find out that it's good.

 

[SirRobyn0]

checking the EGR valve is a good idea to, but test it first before you through more parts on it please.

 

[SirRobyn0]

The thing is EGR will typically make it idle really bad to.

 

[af77]

Ok I know it's a pain in the ass right now but you will get this figured out. One of the problems is that none of us are there with you. But at least with the videos we get a audio clue.

One thing I think it seems like it has a miss to. You can sometimes have an engine idle pretty good, but have a crossed plug wire or ignition timing off. Check the firing order. #1 does not have to be in the same spot on the cap as in the manual, but it must go in the same order and in the same direction, I've always been terrible remembering firing orders so go by the book. You can always mark which ones you move if you do move any if your afraid of making a mistake. #2. Check the ignition timing with a timing light. Vac line to distributor removed and plugged, at idle warmed up. Should be a sticker under the hood with the timing spec. #3. If that doesn't do it, pull all the spark plugs out and run a compression check, we need to be sure we are working on an engine that has compression in all 8 cylinders. It would really suck to find compression issues, but best to find out before more time and money is spent or find out that it's good.

Maybe you can help me with that. I see the firing order, I can read it. I know it means that is the order the plugs fire in.

But how do I translate that to "this wire goes here."

Do I find spot one on the cap, put plug 1 there, then counter clockwise from there put plug 8, then 4, then 3, etc?

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[gotyourgoat]

Surprised nobody has asked me to replace or test the 02 sensor.

Literally the first thing I mentioned...

 

[Big Chip]

When you're done with the O2 sensor check I still suggest checking the timing too.

 

[idahovette]

NOT counterclockwise. #1 then CLOCKWISE, 8 4 3 6 5 7 2