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h cam 244 not starting

T

tog244

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
b230f 1987 244 and i just swapped the M cam for an H cam yesterday. everything went well, two of the 10 studs holding the valve cover sheared but in waiting for those parts i put some rtv black gasket stuff around so i could start it and drive it a little without losing too much oil. this worked fine, lost a little bit of oil- no big deal. later that night i went to start the car and it started and drove down to the end of my driveway and then died. now it was pretty cold last night but im not sure if thats the only reason why it wouldnt start. it would crank and try its best to start but i got nothing. i have half a tank of gas, battery was not dead, spark plugs and cables were replaced recently but still it wont start. its currently 33 degrees F which normally my car would start with the M cam in. Im aware the H cam makes it harder to cold start but is that the only reason? i just need some sort of advice
 
ill check my belt again. its just the notch at the top of the cam gear and the bottom pully that i have to line up correct?
 
To see if it's a timing related issue put the crank pulley at tdc, Remove the oil filler cap and look at the front two cam lobes to see if they are in the compression stroke. that means both lobes pointing slighty upwards like this "V" If the lobes are both pointing slightly down like this "^" it's in the exhaust stroke and the crank has to be turned another 360*. Then it's time to check the ignition. Remove the ignition cap, rotor & the platic cover thingy below the rotor. Underneath the cover thingy is a mark. Put back the rotor without the cover and see if it points towards the mark. If that's all good keep it at tdc and remove the upper timing cover and check if the cam gear is lined up with it's mark.
 
when i replaced the timing belt i made sure the cam was in the same position as the one i took out and then i lined it back up with the tdc mark on the cam gear. i would be surprised if thats the case because i remember the two front lobes pointing up. with the distributor i only took the spark plug wires out of the side of the head and i taped the number of the cylinder each wire went to beforehand so is there any way that the distributor timing would be off? the strange thing of it all is that the car ran and drove with no issues for a good bit and then later it ran for a little and then died so i feel like it couldnt be timing if it already ran without me changing anything right?
 
The gear that drives the distributor and oil pomp could easily be off.. Just a 10 minute job in checking it all out, I suggest you start there.
 
so i double checked the timing belt and made sure it was aligned, both marks line up however the cylinder 1 cam lobes are pointed down when at tdc. should i loosen the belt, take it off of the cam gear, turn the crank pully 360 degrees, and put the belt back on? i am trying to be outside working on it as little as possible because its a nice 24 degrees out today.
 
update: the small pin that connected the cam to the cam gear had wiggled out of place so the cam just wasnt turning with the gear. i fixed that and put everything back besides the timing belt cover (made sure the two notches were aligned), charged the battery up, turned the key, and still got nothing. i can see that cam moves when i hand crank the engine over so that is no longer an issue and the cam lobes are pointed up in a wide V at tdc. is there something i should try after hand cranking the engine a bunch and cranking it without it starting a lot of times?
 
If that pin was out and you were cranking it over, probably munched some valves. Time for a compression check. If compression check is good then check for fuel and spark. If all 3 are good then likely a timing issue.
 
It's unlikely you had valve interference unless the head has been significantly cut. Most likely the timing is off. Does it seem like it's making compression? Double check the auxiliary shaft/ distributor timing too.
 
i got a compression tester because it is free to return for full money back at autozone so im just going to test to be safe.
 
well all four cylinders did the same thing. there was a little button on the side of the gauge so when i held that down it gave me different results than not holding it down. i cant remember which is which but the two numbers i got for all four cylinders is 120 psi and about 90 psi. both times it shot up to that but did not stay at all, it just shot up to the number then immediately back down... does this mean my valves are toast?
 
Need to youtube compression testing.
That button is a pressure release, crank and the highest number is your compression.
Then press button to relieve pressure.
Make sure all 4 plugs are out when testing, some swear WOT Is needed but it's never been an issue for me.
Do a test dry, then squirt some oil in each hole 1 by 1 and repeat.
If numbers come up, worn rings. If not, valve trouble.
That said...
I don't think you have timing correct.
Use a bic pen or straw to verify TDC.
Make sure cam is aligned, crank is aligned, and distributor is aligned and pointing to the line under the cap.
Then roll the motor over a couple times and recheck.
 

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i knew about the cam and crank timing things but not the third one, ill check that and the distributor. should i check that all of those things are correct and try to start the engine?
 
how should i go about aligning that intermediate shaft mark? theres a seperate cover over it and i dont know how to get it off with such little room around it
 
yeah, if you didn't know about the intermediate pulley that is very likely your issue. flashlight and long flathead > I touch the timing mark on the pulley and then slide over to touch the mark on the cover. If it's a straight line then they are good, if not then adjust a tooth and retry. That method always seems to work for me with that cover still on and looking down into there to line things up.
 
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