my ignition control moduel **** the bed, so i took out the distributor to replace it, i put everything back together, now my engine cranks but won't start. i have #1 piston on TDC and i put everything back together to how i think it was. does anyone have any suggestions? could it be i am off a tooth on the distributor? thanks.

 

Are you sure you don't have the rotor 180 off? Play with it man......play around with if you have it in the wrong tooth. Did ya pull the distrib with the cap off.....you should've looked to see where the rotor was and put it in the exact spot where you took it out.

 

With the engine at TDC on number one cylinder make a mark on the distributor housing just below the cap centered on number one spark plug terminal. Remove the cap and see if the rotor is lining up with this mark. If not you'll need to re-establishing the original distributor housing to block orientation. Then reset the rotor shaft so it lines up with the number one plug wire mark.

 

Just having the crank on the TDC mark don't mean the #1 cyl is on the compression stroke. Pull #1 plug and turn the engine over by hand with your finger over the plug hole and feel for the compression. It takes two revoultions of the crank for a complete firing cycle. At TDC you could be on the compression/power stroke or the exhaust/intake stroke.

When you find the TDC compression stroke mark the location of the #1 wire on the cap on the dist. body. Remove the cap and see where the rotor is pointing. Remove the dist. and put the rotor in the correct spot. Be carefull to position rotor so you can move the dist. body to advance or retard the spark spark timing. You will need a timing light to set the correct advance. If your engine is computer controled you may have to disable the comp. to set the basic advance. The computer will correctly set it for different loads and conditions.