thegrantler

It has vaccin advance, and i thought it was grounded through the harness on the distributor. How else should I route the wiring I thought I followed that order

Sugar Bear

We are talking about the spark plug wires. They are out of order, refer to post #25 after putting piston #1 at TDC on the compression stroke. This is very likely the whole issue with the no start.

thegrantler

Thank you, ill try again when im home

Sugar Bear

The distributor installation and wire installation isn't complicated IF it is done one step at a time in the exact correct order. Don't look at the big picture, focus on one step, check it off and then do the next step. If one step is off it won't work.

If you don't understand a step ask, we will walk you through it one step at a time.

thegrantler

I am looking at it now, all of the wires are going to the correct spot based off of the diagram

thegrantler

Pretty sure the motor is junk. It hardly turns over and makes an awful squealing when it does

Sugar Bear

Put a pointer on #1 at the cap and send a pic of it going to the pass front cylinder.. Going counter clockwise looking down at the distributor cap the wire after #1 goes to cylinder 8 (the back cylinder on pass side), then 4, 3, 6, 5, 7 and 2..

The cylinders on the driver's side are 1, 3, 5 & 7 from front to rear.

The cylinders on the pass side are 2, 4, 6, & 8 front to rear

Vintage Chief

You lost me. #1 distributor cap position should have the wire going to the driver front cylinder which is cylinder #1. Pass front cylinder is #2. Is it possible I've lost my mind?

joe_padavano

48 posts and either I missed it or no one has confirmed that there is actually a spark when the engine is cranked.

Vintage Chief

I'm physically not at the vehicle location - I can't confirm anything.

Sugar Bear

Good catch, my mistake. #1 to the driver side.

joe_padavano

That'll teach you to work on Fords...

Sugar Bear

Post #1 the OP says it has spark on all cylinders.

no1oldsfan

I don't like to have to agree with you but once you flush an engine with water and then try to fire it without every single inch torn down. Which you really can't do unless you tear the engine down completely. The engine will have issues. Just my thoughts.

70W-32

The top blue box shows the coil ground that is supposed to be in the distributor cap, if you didnt install another, then this is part of your issue.
The bottom box shows the location that the #1 cylinder should be located(depending on year), if you follow the counter clockwise firing order, your #2 wire is going to the wrong side of the motor. That means the wire connected to the #2 sparkplug isnt attached correctly at the cap

thegrantler

I read the compression, all of the cylinders were below 95, some about 80. Im assuming an engine cannot run on compression this low?

Sugar Bear

Confirm that the gauge is good, check one cylinder on a good running engine. Your timing chain may have jumped a tooth.

FWIW, I've encountered two bad compression testers so it does happen. One was a cheapie so no surprise, the other was an expensive high end professional gauge and it was way off.

Vintage Chief

75psi - 80psi is borderline getting an engine to start & remain running. If you validate the compression gauge works as designed & your compression readings are between 80psi - 95psi on all cylinders you'll need a complete engine tear-down & repair - plan accordingly.

thegrantler

I know the gauge works as ive used it in a motor i rebuilt. I just pulled this one out of the car, gonna replace the bearings and rings

Vintage Chief

Perform both a dry and a wet compression test before tear down & note the delta between dry compression & wet compression.

Vintage Chief

If you want to take this one step further in diagnostics, perform a leak-down test.
If you get a marked difference between dry compression & wet compression it likely points to rings.
If you get no marked difference between dry compression & wet compression, a leak-down test will help to further address likely suspects other than rings e.g. valves, valve guides, etc.

Vintage Chief

Example results of my 1971 350 cid

Sugar Bear

Before pulling it completely apart, pull the oil pan and then the front cover, it may be a jumped timing chain. Do the tests recommended so you know what you're working with.

Keep us posted!

cjsdad

That engine has been sitting a long time and even though it started and ran for a moment, it has been a couple weeks since that happened. Your engine is dry! Spray some penetrating oil into the cylinders and let it soak a while to loosen up the rings, then give each one another squirt before the compression test. You may get some life out of the engine without a tear down. It won't run like new, but maybe have some life left in it.

Try turning the engine backwards by hand with the distributor cap off to see how far it moves before the distributor turns. Anything more than just a few degrees means the timing chain is too loose.