RED UFO

I would like to say I am very mechanically incline but I am not experienced in setting a distributor.

I did a tune up and I must have gotten 2 plug wires switched so I went to my FSM and reconfigured the wires on the cap then the car wouldn't start. I decided to move all the wires over one position counter clockwise. The car ran fine. #1 on the cap should be closest to the #1 plug. It should be the one on the left side of the car closest to end of the air intake plenum, correct?

Well my distributor cap is cocked a little counter clockwise. How could this of gotten this way?

jsup

#1 on my cap is NOT the one closest to cyl 1. It is one plug over in the rotation of the rotor, clockwise toward the passenger side.

USAsOnlyWay

If I am reading correctly, you are stating that #1 terminal/post on the cap should be the one physically closest/pointing to cylinder #1.
Correct?

This is only true if the rotor inside the cap, once dropped into mesh with the distributor gear on the camshaft, is indeed pointing to that terminal.

When the distributor is out you can rotate the rotor as much as you want and as long as the crank (and thus pistons) are at top dead center (not 180* off, though that doesn't sound like what you messed up) when you drop the distributor back in, the terminal corresponding to where the rotor is pointing is now #1...as long as the motor is at top dead center.

Got it?

I'm guessing you were reinstalling the distributor which you pulled out at TDC, chances are it rotated enough to now be off by one terminal, but taking off the cap and setting it back in and watching where the rotor sits, then putting on the cap, will tell you for sure.

M. Schumacher

Does this help?

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...istributor.png

jsup

That's how mine is. Exactly.

Beach Bum

One quick & easy way to do this is pull your # 1 sparkplug, stuff a small piece of cellophane into the plug hole, slowly crank your motor, when its on the compression stroke and hits # 1 it will blow the cellophane out.... you know you're on # 1 now provided you didn't over shoot, so rotate your cap so that the rotor is pointing at # 1 on the cap.

Takes 2 minutes to do this....

You can now start it up safely and actually then properly set timing advance....

good luck !

RED UFO

I apologize for doing a lousy job explaining my issue so I hope this will make it clearer. I know this diagram is from an earlier L98 but it is the same as my FSM.

My number one cylinder is on the #2 terminal of the cap the last position of the firing order and #8 cylinder is where #1 terminal is on this diagram. The side of the distributor assembly that has the electrical connects is turned a little towards the firewall. In other words the diagram shows the 1 and 8 terminals being parallel with the end of the air intake. Mine is not.

WW7

A lot of times the distributor does not drop down into place perfectly and you have to have someone with a socket and breaker bar turn the crank slightly before the distributor will drop in. If you try to wiggle the distributor to get it in you end up off a tooth..WW

Iroc57

Do yourself a favor and delete this diagram, if you have that in the FSM burn that page.
As was stated # 1 on the distributor is where the rotor happens to point when #1 is up at TDC. Don't feel bad though as this diagram has caused more than one person to wonder why their car won't start

RED UFO

Thank you

I will burn the page. To tell you the truth the drawing in my manual looks like someone's 3rd grader did it with a Set Barney of Crayons.

Bottom line is, where that diagram shows #2 is where my number #1 is.

BTW Did the 91 have the round plug retainer on top of the distributor with numbers when the car was new?

Sam Lam

Many words have been typed on this topic and I will not too much to this. In short, the location of the #1 plug wire may be one of eight possible locations. The photo illustrated the location that was set at the factory in BG. If your #1 wire is located differently than the photos and it is running well, have a cold Bud Lite and relax

Iroc57

I have to let someone chime in with a clue on this one. Mine was missing from the old L98 but it could have been there from the factory for all I know.

M. Schumacher

The orientation of the cap will matter for proper fit of your plug wires. The lengths were selected to fit with the cap in the original position.

coupeguy2001

It doesn't really matter where the spark plugs wires are located on the distributor cap as long as they are in the proper firing order and the rotor points to #1 with the crank timing mark on TDC.
If you are lazy, it can be anywhere. If you are wound a little tighter, it has to be where the factory set it.
The reason the books show it where it is, is that in 1955, some engineer said #1 is up front right behind the carburetor. That's it, nothing more.
Once, I bought a wire set to finish up a tuneup on a chevy powered boat, and the wire set i got at the auto parts store was apparently the wrong set. I just moved the wires around till I could get all the wires to work, then removed the distributor, reindexed #1, and we went water skiing.
I replaced the wires after putting the boat away (3 hour drive home) and returrning the wire set. two weekends later, I put the distributor back, and installed the second set of wires, and we went water skiing and there was no difference, and I was the only one who knew what I did, everyone else thought I was just picky about my engine.
The first set of wires were just really really tight.

RED UFO

Here is my distributor and below that is my friends 1985.

I am not going to worry about it now but some day I may fix it.




1985 L98

Chatman

I had the same problem and decided to correct it.

As you remove the distributor, the shaft rotates as the gear slides out of its mate. If you hold everything the same and reinsert, it tends to mesh with the next tooth. I'm saying that if you were to just lift one out and then put it back in, you could easily get off that one tooth.

RED UFO

Thanks

I will try it on a day when I know I don't need the car for something. That way if some thing goes wrong I have time to recover.

I think I will ask someone from our club that has done it before to come over to guide me.

kalister1

The distributor meshes with a gear on the cam. You can lift the distributor up and rotate the rotor and drop the distributor back in. There are many teeth on these gears. If you move the rotor and drop it back in all you have changed is where number one plug wire needs to be to have the engine run. So you can put number one plug wire in any hole in the cap, as long as you drop the distributor in so the rotor points to that wire when number 1 is at TDC on the correct stroke. The car will run if only 1 tooth off, but it will run like POOP.

jbrianfoto

Lord I can't wait to get home - I've been fighting with my 88 for three days - won't start. I just replaced the fuel pump, filter, plugs/cap/rotor in a first attempt at getting is going after 13 years of storage. I had used the internet diagram that now turns out as being wrong! So glad you folks are so helpful

ctmccloskey

Hello there jbrianfoto,

When my 1988 sat for a few months the fuel lines rusted shut internally and my electrical system developed some serious voltage drops. The electric issues turned out to be the little post on the drivers side behind the battery. There is a moderately large red wire going to this post (directly from the battery) and it supplies most of your electrical system with power. There were 7 fusible links attached to the post and most had badly corroded connectors. It is easy to check as you measure the voltage of your battery and then measure the battery voltage at the fuse block. If there is a significant difference then you have a problem, on my C4 it was almost 2 volts lower at the fuse panel. After cleaning the post and all the fusible link connectors the voltage came back to normal. At that point there was enough to make the fuel pump work. Even my radio worked after fixing this post's corrosion was resolved.

Test your fuel lines by simply applying power to the fuel pump at the fuel pump in back, I used a Power Probe to do this without hurting myself (or Blowing myself up). There are three wires coming out of the fuel pump harness, One is a larger gauge and is the battery + for the fuel pump, the middle wire is the ground and the third wire is the fuel level sensor output. Do Not take grounds for granted, they need to be tested and cleaned if needed. If you have the FSM for your Corvette you would be able to apply power to the proper wire at the Fuel Pump Relay. I started at the Fuel Pump and worked my way forward.

After sitting you should go through the Corvette very carefully and check your ground straps and ground connections. I had a broken ground strap that after being fixed made my antenna work properly.

The brake lines should be given a twice over inspection, after sitting my brake system ruptured after being pushed hard while sitting. Our 1988's have a one-year only brake system which complicates life a bit. I would be happy to help you in any way as I have seen a lot of strange stuff with my 1988 C4 Coupe. I also found some water that expanded the Brake lines near the ABS control system behind the seat. Flush your brakes as soon as you can!

It is always good to see another Corvette owner from the great State of Virginia!

Best regards,
Chris
If you have a set great, if you don't have a set of the Factory Service Manuals be sure to get yourself a set. It is virtually impossible to fix an older Corvette without one. For 1988 they come in two books, one mechanical and one electrical and both are priceless!