chengny
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2012
- Posts
- 4,086
- Reaction score
- 1,008
- Location
- NH
- First Name
- Jerry
- Truck Year
- 1986
- Truck Model
- K3500
- Engine Size
- 350/5.7
Pull your plugs and roll the engine over by hand with a 5/8" socket on the crank pulley/harmonic balancer bolt.
The results can be interpreted 2 ways:
1. If it can be rolled over easily using a long handled ratchet on the crank pulley bolt, you may have dodged a bullet. But this test is not a sure thing - rolling the engine slowly by hand does not duplicate what really happens while cranking/starting. In other words, if it rolls over it's not definitely damaged, but it's also not definitely undamaged.
2. If it can't be rolled over by hand (with the plugs out) or while rolling it there are spots where you encounter more resistance than elsewhere - the engine is definitely damaged.
At least drain the oil into a clean container and inspect it for the presence of metallic flakes.
If all seems well, retard the timing (rotate the distributor CW) a good bit and try to start it.
In answer to your question; as Mr. HRPC says, overly advanced timing will very often cause slow cranking and hard starts (more so when hot) due to kickback.
Leave it retarded enough for easy starts until you get this sorted out.
All else aside, if you get lucky and find that the bearings are not shot - what you NEED to determine is what caused the loss of oil. Also, what made your engine die out suddenly.
The results can be interpreted 2 ways:
1. If it can be rolled over easily using a long handled ratchet on the crank pulley bolt, you may have dodged a bullet. But this test is not a sure thing - rolling the engine slowly by hand does not duplicate what really happens while cranking/starting. In other words, if it rolls over it's not definitely damaged, but it's also not definitely undamaged.
2. If it can't be rolled over by hand (with the plugs out) or while rolling it there are spots where you encounter more resistance than elsewhere - the engine is definitely damaged.
At least drain the oil into a clean container and inspect it for the presence of metallic flakes.
If all seems well, retard the timing (rotate the distributor CW) a good bit and try to start it.
In answer to your question; as Mr. HRPC says, overly advanced timing will very often cause slow cranking and hard starts (more so when hot) due to kickback.
Leave it retarded enough for easy starts until you get this sorted out.
All else aside, if you get lucky and find that the bearings are not shot - what you NEED to determine is what caused the loss of oil. Also, what made your engine die out suddenly.
