All,
I need help. I’m stumped with a no start issue on a fresh rebuild 360. First I apologize in advance for the length of this but I want to give as much info as I can. The past few weekends of troubleshooting have been unsuccessful so I'm turning to the experts.
This is on my 78 Chief. I had the 360 completely rebuilt by a machine shop, during which the builder installed a comp cams XE262, new timing cover, and performer intake. We spun the oil pump on the stand before bringing it home and it made 60 lbs easily on a mechanical gauge.
I re-installed the engine a few weeks later along with a FItech kit and TFI ignition coil, cap, wires and plugs. The jeep started relatively quickly, with only 1 quick adjustment of the distributor, and ran it for 25 minutes at 2000-2200 rpm to break the cam in. I used 10W-30 with a bottle of Lucas ZDDP.
The jeep seemed to run well during break-in though maybe rich..?
The factory oil pressure gauge on the dash was reading 25-30 psi starting out cold which I assumed was inaccurate since I witnessed good pressures on a mechanical gauge a few weeks earlier at the shop. I did prime the pump again before reinstalling the motor. As the engine warmed up the pressures dropped to 15-20 psi at 2000 rpm (again on the dash gauge). This may or may not be important later as now I’m worried my issues may be cam related…
So after break-in I took my foot off the gas and the jeep died. I got it restarted at idle and put a timing light on it and discovered the timing was way advanced and the mark was not visible; the distributor hold down clamp bolt was tight but the distributor still moved fairly easily... turns out you really have to crank down on the bolt with the new timing cover. I then adjusted the timing at idle down to 10-12* and it seemed to smooth out right before it died.
I’m not sure if this contributed to rich mixture. All vac ports on new manifold are plugged except PCV.
I tried to restart it again and the battery didn’t have enough juice to kick it over which was odd. I put a charger on it for a bit and it would crank but not fire.
So that was the last time it ran several weeks ago during break-in. Trying to start it ever since while trouble shooting and it seems like a timing issue. Backfiring/coughing/spitting while cranking.
Reset timing to TDC on compression stroke. Did the normal checks for fuel and spark. Verified spark with inline spark tester and tested TFI coil. All checked out.
I put a fuel pressure gauge on the FItech inlet and it reads 50psi with the key on. The FItech website states 58 psi is needed but I don’t know if 8 psi would contribute to no start. There’s definitely fuel getting into the intake and cylinders. The primeshot on the FItech is happening as well.
I discovered last weekend that the rotor that came with the TFI distributor cap had the plastic “key” sheared off so the rotor could spin on the distributor shaft. We thought we had solved the no start/timing issue right then, but after replacing the rotor, taking it to TDC again, the engine still would not fire. Again smelled fuel and saw spark. As we tried different distributor positions, the engine continued to cough through the throttle body. Even had a small campfire in the throttle body once or twice.
I then pulled the spark plugs which were fouled (black / wet), cleaned them and retried with no luck. The set was "new" and only had the 25 minutes run time and several minutes of cranking while troubleshooting. I eventually replaced the plugs again and still no luck.
I pulled the 02 sensor today and it was also dark/sooty.
Ran a compression test on all cylinders for kicks and all 8 are between 150-160psi. Wasn’t sure if this might give me an idea on cam health.
I drained the oil today and it’s dark. Like dark gray black dark, which I assume is either from it running rich or assembly lube/ cam grease or both. I replaced the filter and refilled with new oil. I screened the oil and found one small metal shard.
What am I missing? Is my cam dead? Will worn lobes cause an engine to not start? Can this be verified without taking the engine apart?
Will 8 psi fuel shortage cause no start?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Trying not to burn this thing to the ground after building it for the past umpteen years.
Thanks.