well i got my new distributor cap and rotor the other day (accel) and today when i went to change them everything went on well...except the rotor was real hard to get on all the way(dont know if that is normal or not) well after that i went to fire it up and it ran real ****ty like it was starving for fuel for about 5 seconds than it ran nice, but the service engine light was one..so i decided to swap back to the stock cap and rotor and its doing the same thing...it dosent really backfire..so i am confused on what could of caused this?

Spark plugs out of order.
Get them back in the correct firing order.
1-6-5-4-3-2 around the cap. #1 is the closest to the #1 piston typically.

ORIGINAL: Hanr3

Spark plugs out of order.
Get them back in the correct firing order.
1-6-5-4-3-2 around the cap. #1 is the closest to the #1 piston typically.


Its an 87 with a 350 TBI, at least that is what the signature says...you will have to find the firing order, it might be on the intake near the distributor, if the intake is aftermarket then you can look it up in a Haynes/Chilton's manual. Then use the 0* timing mark on the crank to find the number 1 cyl then mark the cap and place the wires back on the cap as needed in rotational order...

I guess I should read the signature huh?
Doh!!!!

yea i did that a good 5 times..lol but i also notcied some blue smokes puffs out when it first starts up....and as it warms it if you get hard in it, it misses I am hopefuly scanning it tomorrow hopefuly in my shop class..ill let you know what the code is..thankz

If I'm not mistaken, the rotor is keyed, so it only goes on one way. I don't remember having any trouble putting the one on my 89.

ORIGINAL: Chevyguy032

yea i did that a good 5 times..lol but i also notcied some blue smokes puffs out when it first starts up....and as it warms it if you get hard in it, it misses I am hopefuly scanning it tomorrow hopefuly in my shop class..ill let you know what the code is..thankz


Those puffs in the morning maybe caused by worn valve guides and seals.

ORIGINAL: fnirish

If I'm not mistaken, the rotor is keyed, so it only goes on one way. I don't remember having any trouble putting the one on my 89.


Most of the older design caps don't have numbers on the top telling you what wire goes to what cylinder and it is common when replacing wires that if you removed all the wires at once to get them misplaced on the top of the cap when re-installing the new wires...luckily GM cast the firing order into the body of the manifold near the rear so that you could see it and make it easier to replace wires, only problem aftermarket caps don't come with the same information embeded into them...

yea but i put the stock rotor and cap on and it still does it and the ouff just started happening when the motor started acting funny..i also smell fuel while driving when i have the windows down

well i got it scanned today and 2 codes came up one about the MAP sensor..and the other one sayin my exhaust is rich..now would the MAP sensor cause my exhaust to become rich?

It is possible...since the computer uses the information from the MAP sensor to determine the amount of air flowing into the intake. It uses the vacuum created in the intake to calculate what the fuel ratio should be...

Carberators used to be much easier to work than this fuel injected crapolla but I still like it.

I have decided that todays autos get better gas mileage but are more difficult to work on.
The old school stuff is easier to work on but costs more at the pumps more frequently.
In another 10 years wer'e all going to be road warrioring for gas because everything is going to be
hydrogen or electric.

What the heck am I supposed to do with my porsche and my supra, our blazer and our benz.
I want to buy the old lady a new titan but dang.

Have your Cat converter checked also..If u have 1;)

Yeah, the MAP sensor is used in conjunction with the TPS (throttle position sensor) and the O2 sensor to determine the proper IPW (injector pulse width). It is quite possible that the MAP sensor is causing the whole problem.

ORIGINAL: SDimeBlazerlady

Have your Cat converter checked also..If u have 1;)

brand spankin new converter..lol had that replaced last week

well i changed the MAP sensor today and it still acts like it wants to stall out..i dont know what to do at this point..

Could the distributor itself be bad?[&:]

Check the injector spray, if its like a fine mist shower on both injectors (if its duel) then that is fine. If you see droplets like rain then you have a dirty injector. If its lacking spray then you might have faulty wires to the injector. (the older TB's are known for dead wires).

Now with a RICH GAS code for exhaust, that would lean me towards a *Fuel Pressure Regulator* or the TPSgoing out. With the newer side mount air cleaners like on the 3.1, 3.3, 3.8, 4.3, 5.7's it was easy to find out if that was it due to there would be gas all the way out to the filter.

Sad part is that the MAP sensor could had just been a bad vacuum line. Usually these last a lot longer then most think on the older stuff. This would also explane excessive fuel use, due to when the vacuum line is bad, the computer will dump extra fuel in the motor. Like going from 24 mpg down to 11 mpg.

yea there is a vaccum line that comes from the MAP sensor that i have no idea where it goes to