rotor stuck? whatup!

[GusB]

hey folks!  i was hoping someone could help with advice on whats happened (i have not much idea with mechanics)

 rotor seems stuck on the wrong cylinder position , heres what went down;

engine was running like a dream (except carby which is running average and the fan belt which is a little loose) until the other day when i took off the rocker covers for a respray, put them back on and fired the engine to check the gasket wasnt leaking any oil,   when idling away it slowly started sounded terrible like the timing was way off, backfired a fair bit and wanted to stall hard. went to start it again and sounded worse still,  now it doesnt start at all, .

  so ive checked the plug leads are all on  and two were not properly attatched to the distributor cap, so i clicked them in all the way.also took the cap off and noticed the distributor has a fair bit of movement (about 1/2 cm in all directions) is this bad.  ? im 100 percent sure the firing order is spot on (taken from holdenpaedia).  also the rotor is stuck on cylinder 4 (which is 180 degrees the wrong way) and cant get it back to the number 1 cylinder start position. how do i get it back around, feels like its going to break, i can take it off and back on ok, but stuck in the wrong spot. any ideas,do i move the fan around and hope the rotor moves or something?  im 99 percent sure the rocker covers went on off smooth enough and that nothing foreign went in there.

also i put new spark plugs and leads and rotor ona few months back (except didnt change rotor cap which could be pretty old, there was some white residue on the inside in there a while back which i rubbed back with wetndry paper)   
   

[John Abbott]

Hey Gus im wondering whether there is something amiss on the dizzy shaft itself?  Have you taken the whole dizzy out and inspected it?
Just an idea...

[hangten]

Hi GusB,
Few things to try, First- Put pressure on you're fan belt & turn you're fan, This should turn you're rotor.
If not take you're dizzy out, There's a spline/cog on the bottom, check to see if it's fixed & no play,
if thats ok make sure the shaft turns freely. Failing that I have no idea without having a look, Sorry.
When you take the dizzy out get a pencil and make a mark so you put it back the same way.
Hope you're on the road soon.
Cheers
Hangten

[restoreid]

If it was running good before it sounds like it's stripped the gear on the bottom of the disi shaft Youl have to pull the disi out to see if the gear is stripped

[GusB]

ok thanks hangten and co, havent tried that yet, or the dizzy out either. it will take a few days to get back to reply,  thanks!  over &out

[Merlin]

looking at the picks it looks like you are 180 degrees out ,try turning the motor over one full rev by hand and that should put you at tdc #1 .The movement in the rotor shaft is normal but it should feel springy (its your mechanical advance mechanism ) if it dose'nt feel springy then it needs attention .I suspect you might have your lead firing order out of whack .(the leads were the only thing you removed before the rocker covers yeah???) hope that helps     Cheers Neil

[Dano]

ps DONT ask Craig for the firing order.......

[hotrod]

re check your firing order
your rotor looks to be on no1 but your leads don't appear to be in the right order
http://holdenpaedia.oldholden.com/Firing_order_Holden_V8_and_6#Holden_V8_Firing_Order:

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.offroaders.com/tech/images/Chevrolet-V8_Firing-Order.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.offroaders.com/tech/V8-engine-firing-order.htm&h=382&w=311&sz=26&tbnid=G_Yv2OPDGdPPPM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchevy%2Bfiring%2Border&hl=en&usg=__snDu4b_WYvjDjOn5I2EsOMALfVI=&sa=X&ei=Wm8mTIL2A9yPcMCYtdoC&ved=0CC0Q9QEwBA

[petrolhead]

If you have stripped the dizzy drive gear you can buy two types
1: Fibre style as per factory or
2:Aftermarket metal one
spend the extra and buy the metal one and you shouldn't have to worry again
Regards
Petrolhead

[hotrod]

fuel?