Call me dumb, but whatever, I'm new at this. I pulled the distributor w/out marking anything. When I put things back together my truck ('92) won't start. It acts like it is going to but won't turn over.

What is the trick to putting the distributor in right? I think that is why my truck won't start? Did I mess up the timing, and even if I did would that cause it not to start?

Thanks

 

Did you pull the distributor or just the cover? Either way you could have messed it up so it will not start. If you just pulled the cover use the FSM stickied on the top of the forum and rewire correctly. It really only fits on one way. If you pulled the whole distributor you need to move the engine to TDC, align the rotor to plug one and reinstall. Wire it correctly and you should be good to go. Again the FSM will help.

 

put the distributor cap on the distributor, find where the #1 spark plug wire connects to the cap and make a mark on the distributor body that matches up with it
disconnect your battery negative terminal
pull your sparkplugs, noting which wire is for what plug
rotate the crankshaft until you feel air being pushed out of the #1 spark plug hole
continue rotating until the timing mark on the crankshaft pulley lines up with the 0 mark on the tab above it
remove the distributor cap then distributor from the engine
rotate the distributor shaft / rotor until it lines up with the mark you made in step one, then reinsert the distributor. if the rotor is no longer pointing at the mark, note with direction the rotor was off and remove the distributor then rotate the rotor a bit in the opposite direction from which it was off and reinsert the distributor. repeat as necessary until you get the rotor as close to the mark as possible. tighten the distributor
reinstall the cap, plugs and wires
reconnect the battery
try to start the engine
set the timing

 

Do I have to oull all of the plugs or just the #1?

 

honestly, you only have to pull #1. but pulling all of them will make it easier to spin the crankshaft by hand

 

Allright! I got it to turn over. Thanks for the help!

Previous to this I was searching for an electrical issue and had pulled the alternator. Put it back in and when I finally got the truck to turn over I had a major Squeel and smoke coming of of the belt around the pulley on the alternator. This is because the belt isn't tight enough right?? If so how the heck can I get that thing tighter?? I have mediocre tools...

 

i took the air intake off to get at it better and pulled up on it with my right hand and bolted it in with my left. worked great

 

Thanks. I also have seem that I may be able to use a broom stick or somthing for some leverage.