ok, we are about to lose our patience. We can't set the timing correctly w/o a tach, and Glen, my dad said the same thing about the ear. Either we have really bad hearing or we don't know what the heck we are doing. We keep getting a popping from the passenger side exhaust pipe, which to us means that it is not firing in correct time. We have tried it idled all the way down and on 6 and it dies. All the way down and 7-10 it won't stall but the popping gets worse. And when we drive it down the road, it backfires. OK, now what?

 

Nah, don't loseyour patience. It now sounds like you may have a firing order problem. The firing order for that engine is 15426378. The numbr one piston is on the passenger side at the front of the engine. From there you go 1234 on that bank, then 5678 on the driver's side bank.
http://www.mustangandfords.com/techa...38/index3.html

 

I was told it was 1357 on one side and 2468 on the other but that was for a chevy 350, are the 289s different?

 

Thanks Glen, we'll check that before we start messing with the distributor again, since we changed the diz cap we might have crossed a wire.

It's a 302, not a 289 Kbunny.

 

So then ford and chevy are different by how they number the cylinders, ok.

 

Yeah, some of the things on the car have been great as far as self explanatory or common sense, others have been a royal pain. It didn't help that I tried to do some stuff by myself and had to start over when I had help....lol

then again the hubby keeps insisting that he isn't a mechanic so what choice do I have except for trying to do it myself, right?

Does anyone know a mechanic that makes house calls? I don't...

 

The 289 and the 302 have the same firing order. Yes, a Ford 289 is different from a Chevy 350 in how they number the cylinders. 91-93 octane gas is premium. 87 octane is regular.

 

Well...
Now I am really embarassed...and the hubby is [:@]

We believe we have figured out our problem. We put the timing chain on in the dark, by droplight...and we think we............



skipped a tooth. []


He looked in the Chilton last night and checked the timing by rotating the motor by hand and watching the rotor....and....

we figured it out, we think. A friend has confirmed it, a friend who hadn't been with us every step of the way--he jumped on the cause of the backfire right away.

So now we take everything back off and start again.

Got the tach and parts of my dash are now in my front seat. Makes me a little nervous actually.

Just thought I would bring you all up to date.

Hope everyone is having a great day..

 

Ain't it a fun hobby? It is so exhilirating to finally get a propblem solved. There are just so many pieces of the puzzle to solve.

 

Yeah, especially when hubby keeps reminding me he is no mechanic. We are working this all out on our own and with a manual. Gives us a sense of accomplishment after the headaches are gone.