If it’s the cam gear like Tester said, you will be able to rake the debris out of the oil-drain hole with a small tool like a dental pick…Also, a quick compression test will reveal that there is a problem…
Tester is right. My 350 and 305 had nylon gears for the timing chain to run on. I replaced them with metal gears.
Just curious. If the cam gears strip or the timing chain breaks on this vehicle, is there a possiblity of valve damage, or is the engine a non-interference free-wheeler? I think I heard someone here say that at least on Ford’s established big engines, like their 302 V8, if the timing chain breaks there’s a chance the valves will get crunched.
Anything is possible when the valve timing goes out of synch with the pistons. But not only can you end up with bent valves, but also bent push rods and collapsed lifters on these push rod engines.
But if it’s found that the plastic teeth failed on the cam gear, to get any of the plastic debris out of the oil pan, while the timing chain cover is off, install the oil drain plug back into the oil pan. At the front of the engine where the oil pan exposed with the timing cover off, pour in five quarts of kerosene. Let the kerosene sit in the oil pan while the timing chain/gears are being replaced. This will insure that if any of the plastic debris is attached to the oil pump pick-up screen is rinsed away.
Then when you’re ready to install the timing chain cover, remove the drain plug from the oil pan and let the kerosene along with any plastic debris drain out. And with the drain plug out, pour another gallon of kerosene at the front of the oil pan to make sure all the plastic debris is removed.
Tester
I guess the question that needs to be answered is are the carb and distributor new additions that were made to address a problem and did the car run before you installed them?
If the car ran before you added these then my guess is that you do not have the distributor in correctly and your timing is off. While having the timing too advanced will drag the engine down while starting, timing that is too retarded will allow the engine to spin quickly.
Yes, chains certainly do stretch due to wear on the rollers and wear between the parts.
If your engine has averaged 3,000 rpm, that’s 180,000 revelutions per hour. Every link on the chain bends back & forth teiwce for every revolution. That’s 360,000 times per hour.
If the engine has averaged 50 mph for 100,000 miles, that’s 2,000 hours of operation. That means every link of the chain has bent back & forth millions of times (I’ll let you do the final math). Yes, mmechanical things wear when they do that. And as the chain parts wear, the chain stretches.
Besides, the sprockets and the tensioner linings are nylon, and that wears too.
The symptoms you describe, the extra fast spinnig of the crankshaft by the starter, the smoke, the lac of starting, and the seeming exhaust leak, would together suggest that the valves are not opening and closing at the proper times, not allowing compression or proper combustion. I think checking of teh valve timing is a good first step.
Or, since you changed the distributor, perhaps it’s timed 180 degrees out of phase, firing at the top of the exhaust stroke rather than the top of the compression stroke. I’d expect popping sounds, but checking the timing i the distributor is a good idea too.
Timing is everything.
WheresRick
I have seen many a small block chevys that had 500k on them on the original chain.
Mercy!
What worries me is the “I have the timing set correctly, I Think”. Use a timing light, disconnect and plug the vacuum advance and be sure. If it has points you need to check the point gap or dwell if you have a dwell meter also. Is this a car you have to pump the gas petal once to set the choke?
The OP, Berlinetta, has never returned…
Guys, I have to disagree with all of you. The OP implied that it ran before putting on the carb and distributor so I think he got the distributor in 180° out of phase (360° out of the crankshaft cycle). In other words he is trying to fire on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke. Seen it many times, done it myself more times than I want to count.
That was my second guess in my first post. I think you may be right.
Installing the distributor incorrectly wouldn’t cause the the engine to spin over fast when trying to start it. You might get a backfire or nothing. But the engine would still have compression.
Tester
Faster is relative, my experience is that they do turn over faster when the distributor is in 180 out. We really don’t know how the OP is defining faster, whether it is faster like the plugs not installed or just a little faster like you get when you have no spark.
It’s too bad the OP disappeared. This information could have been valuable to him/her.
Sigh.
He’s been here before for advice, I don’t recall if he left any feedback then, but since he comes back with questions from time to time, he probably is reading our replies.
…or maybe just fires up his computer now and then, or logs on at a library or something and hasn’t had the opportunity in a few days.