84 Supra Rider 351w No Spark from Coil

[chautauquasun]

I agree about having him do any more work. Said he worked for a Supra dealership in GA so I trusted him. He said the timing light wouldn't work on cylinder 1 so he used 3. Again everything I read says to use 1. He left it in worse shape than what I had it in. He said that because my carb is bad and the distributor clips aren't tight he couldn't tune it. That maybe the case but at least I had it running before he touched it. OneAnyways, I think I am going to upgrade to an electronic distributor. Does anyone have any recommendations on the brand and model. I have looked at Mallorys in the past. Is this something I could order on Summit or Jegs? Any help would be appreciated. I believe the engine is a left hand rotation does that sound right. Also, when I started to check the spark plug wires the other night prior the guy coming over, they didn't seem to match any of the diagrams I pulled up for this engine. Does anyone have the right wiring diagram for the plug wires for an 84 PCM 351w?

[mlaosa]

Again--x2 for what Moor said. I'm a senior master ford tech and have never heard of hooking timing light up to anything but #1 plug wire. Run far and fast from that guy! I run my conbrio right at 10 degrees BTDC. As far as the clips on the distributor cap not holding cap down tight, I had the same problem with my first comp ts6m. Replaced cap/clips/rotor and fixed. Not saying that is only problem with yours but if it's loose then it's hard to get good spark from the rotor to cap. I would certainly pull the cap and look at the contact point at top of rotor and beneath cap and look for any signs of arcing or "burn" marks. Mallory makes great electronic distributor.

[chautauquasun]

Hey guys thank you for entertaining this thread as long as you have. You have given a novice a lot of good information. Question for mlaosa... I have read just as you have said the 10 is TDC but I found an old PCM manual on line that is saying the bolt down distributor is 10 but the clip down is 6. I believe I have the clip down prestolite. So do you know if it should be 6 or 10. I have a copy of the manual if you want me to email it to you. I am going to get the carb rebuilt so that I know it is correct then really dig into this further using the manual. Another issue is that my tach has worked in a long time. I think I need a function tack to set the idle timing don't I?thanksDan

[chautauquasun]

see the attached page from the manual

[mlaosa]

Good catch. Yeah my boat has the screw down and run it @ 10 degrees. Former comp had clip down and I believe it was set a little lower. I would start at 6 and slightly advance it till you find the smoothest engine operation. All being said-- if that guy installed a "HEI" distributor in your boat not knowing what he is doing, chances are your timing is way off. Regardless of weather you fix your distributor or get a new one, you have to get base timing right and make sure your firing order is correct. Also agree a good working tach always helps when tuning. Hope this helps.

[Moor]

i believe this is correct for your engine. You should have a standard, or left hand rotation engine.

[chautauquasun]

Just a quick update. I ended up getting the carb rebuilt then replaced points and condenser and set the dwell and timing correctly for the engine. It is running beautifully....or it was. See my new thread. I need some more help.