car started on fire....... gas out exhaust port help please

[zerepdivad]

Ok so i'm doing a swap from sohc to dohc and when i got my motor it was missing an injector so i put another one on and when i went to start it with out my exhaust manifold on it was squirting gas out of the exhaust port of the injector that i replaced...... What would cause this? Poorly installed injector or do you think there's a reason that injector was off when i got the motor? It scared the hell out of me because i was cranking it to start it up and the ****er splurted gas out the exhaust port and it started on fire..... i got the fire out and nothing was damaged but i'm scared to try it again. any help is appreciated.thanks

[zerepdivad]

well i got the whole fire situation sorted out it seems like the timing on the distributor was WAY off. So now i lined it up at tdc and lined up the rotort with the number one cylinder and i'm getting fuel, i'm gettin spark, but it won't start up. Every now and then it will put a little bit of smoke out the exhaust ports but no start. And also it sometimes "backfires" out the intake...... If anyone has had any related situation please let me know how it's fixed. I have a strange feeling it's still timing even though i'm almost certain it's right..... thanks

[mrsideways]

if im not mistaken your timing should be 20 +/- 2 BTDC, hope this helped. also do you have access to a timing light?

[zerepdivad]

ok well i'll tell you what i did then.... I took off the valve coer and set it to cyllinder #1 at tdc according to the jwt site tutorial on changing camshafts. Then from there i made sure the lobes were facing away from the middle of the motor and that the crank pulley was at the second notch (tdc) Then from there pullled the distributor and set it so that the rotor is pointing at the #1 cylinder plug wire. Is there anything wrong with what i did at all?

[blinker_fluid]

were the cams ever removed? If its off by one tooth it will still look like the jwt diagram but the car won't turn over.

[zerepdivad]

no the cams weren't ever removed. The motor turns over fine but it just won't ignite. it gets spark and fuel but it wouldn't ignite. today i got it started after tinkering with the timing a bit and adding some fresh gas into the tank. It helped now the car actually fires up but it won't idle it only stays on when the gas is pressed. So at this point i'm not sure about what's going on with it but i'm happy i'm making progress.

[mrsideways]

ok, im not totally sure this is your problem , but it might have somethin to do with the idle problem. sence you set the #1 piston to TDC then your timing would be off by at least 20deg. if i were you i would find a timing light and correct my timing i bet that will help a lot, have you ever used a timing light before? its pretty easy, i cant remember the specs when setting, but i think when the light flashes it should look like the crank pulley and the needle are aligned on the last notch, anybody know? ive got the diagram at home, ill have to look. let me know if you need it.

[zerepdivad]

ok so ou're saying that when i set my timing instead of setting it to tdc on the crank pulle i should be setting at 20btc *last notch* and then from there set my rotor facing the #1 cylinder? I've never used a timing gun but i heard that you can't use it unless you get the car to idle...? is that true? because i could maybe get access to one through a friend but i haven't ever used one and i've always heard the car has to hold idle..... The diagram would be great.thanks

[mrsideways]

yea, sorry it has to idle, slipped my mind i work a lot of late nights, lol. i remember you said you played with the timing a little and got it to start, but no idle, see if you can do the same thing to get if goin better, or is that the best it would get?i know there is a write up in the how to section (just found it) giving all the steps like the diagram i have ( got it from ALL DATA.com) sounds like you did everything rite, by TDC it should run but like crap. maybe it could be that you just need to play with the dis. a little more to see if you could get an idle. once once it starts to idle, rotate it a little to see if you can get it set between 650-750rpms that should be really close to correct timing. i hope this helps you fix it, it could be a number of things keeping it from running, like iacv, tps, egr valve. but it sounds to me that its probally just the timing being off, just turn the dis. a little both ways to see if it will get any better.

[mrsideways]

i just thought of something else try adjusting the idle screw on the ilde air control valve, that might help you get it to idle. it has to be starving for air/fuel at idle. that might explain why it only runs if you have the pedal pushed. try that before you adjust the distributor. if that works then you should be able to actually set the timing.