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h cam 244 not starting

kyote said:
The mark on the intermediate shaft doesn't matter, to clarify, the mark on the distributor DOES matter.
Click to expand...

Also there isn't a complimentary amount of teeth on the distributor drive gear as the shaft pulley so if the pulley is off a tooth or 2 you can have the distributor set at the correct spot but it won't leave you any room on the adjustment slot. This won't matter for lh2.4 and up though.
 
Your compression can check OK on a gauge even if your cam timing is off by some teeth.

Pull the upper cover. Then use the crank SPROCKET, not the crank pulley, to set the crank timing.

As long as your dist isn't seized in the block, you can pull it out and re-time it. It takes some practice because it will spin as it goes in. You will need to compensate and start with the shaft/rotor twisted a bit BEFORE the desired position.

To tension the belt, you always want the slack on the tensioner side of the belt. A large clip can help hold the belt onto the cam gear. The large black metal paper clips with arms are good for holding the belt onto the gear.

Set the timing and then I tension the belt with a smack on the tensioner from a hammer and an extension or a screwdriver.
 
i will try all of this as soon as i can, im fairly certain thats at least part of my problem, unfortunately we are expecting a lot of snow tonight so who knows when ill get to work on it
 
I second/third/fourth the idea that the timing (valve or spark) is off and you need to redo the belt alignment. I've run an H cam for years on my 242. The lift and lobe ramps are pretty aggressive, so it induces a LOT more strain on the timing belt system. It doesn't surprise me that you sheared the roll pin. I doubt that you bent a valve, but its possible and worth checking.

Overall, I would question the cam choice on a (relatively speaking) low compression motor. It will have a nice lope to it however due to the overlap (mine does). Mine is in a high compression (almost 11:1) b23. I also run a Stahl header. I'd be interested in knowing how well the LH2.2 does with the cam. LH2 is reasonably civilized..
 
man do i hope someones still active on this. Okay, I have tried to set the timing belt but there is a mark for 20, 10, and 0 on the crank pulley. how do i know which to set it to? also i have taken the dist cap, rotor, and dust cover off and cannot find the timing mark. there was a small metal cap underneath all of that. do i have to take that out too? the rotor was pointing to the fourth plug wire at tdc if that is any help.

i appreciate all of you guys helping me out, i apologize if this has been a little bit painful but if it isnt clear already im very new to working on cars
 
also how do i set the dist rotor? i haven't been able to find anything about it and i dont want to try to muscle it and break something
 
TDC is 0 degrees. The distributor rotor should be pointing at the thermostat housing. If you take the dust cover off the distributor. You will see the mark for no.1 firing there on the metal rim. The rotor is just pressed onto the shaft. Sometimes they are really stuck. You can wedge two screwdrivers under the edge of the rotor and pry up evenly to pop it up and off.
 
I can get the red cap, rotor, and dust cover off no problem but i dont see the no.1 mark anywhere. i linked a teardown of a dist, ive gotten the ones labelled 7, 8, and 9 off but the thing underneath of that (5 and 6) is still in there, do i need to take that out and is that what you were talking about with two screwdrivers or were you just talking about the rotor?


https://vp-autoparts.se/bilder/artiklar/sprangskisser/1501050460l.jpg
 
dl242gt said:
TDC is 0 degrees. The distributor rotor should be pointing at the thermostat housing. If you take the dust cover off the distributor. You will see the mark for no.1 firing there on the metal rim. The rotor is just pressed onto the shaft. Sometimes they are really stuck. You can wedge two screwdrivers under the edge of the rotor and pry up evenly to pop it up and off.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't trust the 0 degree mark without verifying TDC with a pencil in the spark plug hole, an ancient harmonic balancer could give a false reading. OP pull #1 spark plug, set the crank pulley to 0 and make sure the cam pulley is on its mark, then stick a pencil in the spark plug hole, you should be able to feel the top of the piston. Rock the crank pulley back and forth to make sure the piston is at the top of its stroke. If that doesn't happen you may have a bad harmonic balancer. If that all checks out it's time to look and make sure the rotor is pointed at the mark in the edge of the distributor housing just past where #1 spark plug wire is in the cap. If that's not right you can follow ZVOLV procedure to remove and reset its position. If you can't make that work you might have to take the belt loose so you can turn the auxiliary shaft to the correct point. Once you think you have everything set and the belt tensioned, turn the motor over clockwise so 2x on the crank pulley which equals one time around on the cam pulley and make sure your marks are still lined up. I usually try to start the motor before putting all the other belts back on in case I have to move one of the pulleys a notch one way or other. You'll know if it's right or not with a couple blips of the gas pedal, if it's not right it may run but really poorly and won't rev up. Do not run the engine for more than 10-15 seconds without the water pump belt installed.

Edit-
Once you have all the belts on and the engine running, warm it up and use a timing light to set the timing to 12-14 degrees before top dead center at those timing marks by the crank pulley. It's helpful to mark that notch in the pulley with a white crayon or white out. If the timing mark is inconsistent then you may have a slipping harmonic balance.
 
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tog244 said:
I can get the red cap, rotor, and dust cover off no problem but i dont see the no.1 mark anywhere. i linked a teardown of a dist, ive gotten the ones labelled 7, 8, and 9 off but the thing underneath of that (5 and 6) is still in there, do i need to take that out and is that what you were talking about with two screwdrivers or were you just talking about the rotor?


https://vp-autoparts.se/bilder/artiklar/sprangskisser/1501050460l.jpg
Click to expand...

#1 is where the spark plug wire that goes to number 1 spark plug attaches to the cap.
 
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okay stuck a plastic straw in spark plug hole 1 at tdc and rocked it back and forth, it seems to be tdc. can i now take the belt off of the cam gear and freely spin the rotor to its position? nobody really explained clearly how to set the dist so thats what im inferring. i still do not know where the dist tdc mark is, i have run my fingernail around the rim of the dist cup several times and cannot feel or see anything.

im not sure what you mean exactly on your edit but im gonna not worry about it until i get it running
 
Now that the engine is at TDC for cylinder #1:
Verify that the aux shaft pulley is timed correctly: Dot on pulley to bump/notch on the timing cover.
Verify that the cam gear is timed correctly: Same as above, just different marks.
If they are off, pull the timing belt and align as necessary.

Now check the distributor: Is the rotor pointing to the where the #1 spark plug wire goes onto the cap?
If not, loosen the distributor hold down bolt and twist the distributor body. If that doesn't work, you'll have to remove the distributor and move the gear 1-tooth and reinsert. Double check, repeat as needed.
 
tog244 said:
okay stuck a plastic straw in spark plug hole 1 at tdc and rocked it back and forth, it seems to be tdc. can i now take the belt off of the cam gear and freely spin the rotor to its position? nobody really explained clearly how to set the dist so thats what im inferring. i still do not know where the dist tdc mark is, i have run my fingernail around the rim of the dist cup several times and cannot feel or see anything.

im not sure what you mean exactly on your edit but im gonna not worry about it until i get it running
Click to expand...

It should be about 12 degrees past the number one spark plug wire. Yes you can reposition the rotor by loosening/ taking the belt off but beware it's easy to upset the other timing marks with the belt loose.
 
okay the aux gear is not lined up. i was told not to worry about that as i can just reset the dist and not worry about that, the cam and crank are both at tdc and i just need to align the dist. how the hell do i accurately measure 12 degrees past the first plug wire.

all i need at this point as far as i know is how to set the distributor to tdc without just messing with the aux gear because the timing mark on that is a pain to get to. is there a way to do this?
 
tog244 said:
okay the aux gear is not lined up. i was told not to worry about that as i can just reset the dist and not worry about that, the cam and crank are both at tdc and i just need to align the dist. how the hell do i accurately measure 12 degrees past the first plug wire.

all i need at this point as far as i know is how to set the distributor to tdc without just messing with the aux gear because the timing mark on that is a pain to get to. is there a way to do this?
Click to expand...

Just get it pointed at number 1 spark plug wire. You can fine tune it when you set the timing with a timing light. You have to remove the pinch bolt holding the distributor down and pull the distributor all the way out and reposition it.
 
The bolt is on the distributor flange between the distributor and block.

TimingMarks.jpg
 
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