Chilton says to rotate engine til both cylinder 1 lifters are down
Rotate til timing mark on balancer is lined up
At that time both lifters should be down...in which they where
Go through and wiggle push rods while tightening rocker down til no play is found
Then tighten rocker nut down 1 full turn
Continue adjusting other valves the chilton manual says
Unsure right now which valves I was told to adjust
Next rotate engine til timing mark on balancer is lined up
Then adjust remainder of the valves

It's not word for word but pretty much its how the book told me to adjust valves

Thanks

 

Also forgot to note I believe the lifters had bled off
Think I should readjust now that they are all pressurized?

 

Here's a bump!!! I have no idea.

 

loosen them all up, when you readjust them, stop when the play is out of the pushrod, then only go 1/2-3/4 turn past that, dont keep adjusting when they 'bleed off'. they're hydraulic, they will find their center and if they still make a little noise on startup, you can readjust for it with the engine running.

 

I will try adjusting them that way
When I installed them I think the lifters had no pressure

Thanks

Any other help or info will be greatly appreciated

 

When you adjust the valves it's pretty hard to find the exact point where all the play is out of the system. It sounds like you did it right the first time. One trick I figured out is to look at how much thread is sticking out of the adjusting nuts (assuming stock nuts). On my '86 with cast iron heads it's 0.20". Check them all and get them all near the same amount. The lifters are pretty forgiving and will work OK until you get the engine running and can adjust them while the engine is running. The main thing you don't want to do is to adjust them too tight so that the valves are held open all the time. You can also break things if they're too tight. If the valves hit the pistons or you get valve spring coil bind, you can bend the pushrods. Better to be on the loose side. If you think the valves are open all the time, try a compression check.

You need to get the base timing dialed in. Disconnect the bypass connector between the windshield wiper motor and the brake booster (tan wire with black stripe). Turn the distributor until you get 6 degrees advance with a timing light. The engine doesn't have to be running to adjust the timing. You can do it while the engine is turning over with the starter.

Given that you have good fuel pressure on the rail, my diagnosis is that the VATS module is not sending the correct signal to the ECM. The VATS module has two outputs. Once it detects the correct key resistance it enables the starter relay (which is obviously working). It also sends a 30 Hz signal to the ECM which enables the fuel injectors. It sounds like that part isn't happening. Could be a wiring problem between VATS module and ECM.

 

my 87 wont turn over with the vats not enabled, his seems to turn over? I vote, before you throw any more parts at it , go back to basics as suggested earlier and do a compression check, while you're doing that , if you are getting fuel from the injectors the plugs should be 'wet' with the fuel. If they are wet, dry them before you reinstall them.

 

The twisting push rod/ pushrod wiggle thing is not my strong point. I use a .0015 feeler gauge to let me know when "all" the play is out of the pushrod. Just keep sliding it back and forth until it binds. Then turn an additional 1/2 turn.

ADJUSTING THE INTAKE VALVES:
Start with the #1 cylinder. Turn the engine clockwise until you first see the "EXHAUST" pushrod "STARTING" to move "UP". Here is the location you want to adjust the intake rocker arm. (note; you must adjust all rockers at their proper rotation of the engine) Now that you have adjusted the #1 intake. We will now do this same process right down the engine firing order. 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 Turn clockwise during the whole process.

ADJUSTING THE EXHAUST VALVES:
Lets go back to #1 cylinder just to make it simple. Start turning clockwise from the last location. Now you are watching your #1 intake rocker arm(you adjusted already). Turn the engine clockwise until you see the "INTAKE" rocker completely open and then start to close. Just before the intake valve completely closes you stop and now adjust the exhaust rocker arm. Now that you have adjusted the #1 exhaust. Do this same process right down the engine firing order. 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 Turn clockwise during the whole process.

This is how I've done it and never had a problem.

 

I bet the engine is now flooded.Pull a spark plug & look.Also do a compression test on that same cylinder you removed the spark plug from.Hook up a scan tool & see if you have any codes & check the data stream to see if any readings are abnormal-coolant temp,intake temp,rpm reading,etc.Recheck spark plug wire routing to make sure in correct order.See if you can hear injectors clicking while having someone turn over engine while using a stethascope or a long screw driver on body of injector with handle end to your ear

 

i wont be able to touch the vehicle again til this weekend but thanks for the advice

i will readjust the valves again using a feeler gauge
this is how i do it on the busses at work when replacing injectors or running the rack
i thought it was odd to just adjust rocker by feel but evidently it works and has worked

so the distributor cap electrical connectors point towards the driver side correct?
number 1 spark plug goes onto the 2nd connector clockwise from distributor cap electrical connectors correct?

now that im on a computer at work i can give a little better explanation on vehicle

when car was first parked my brother in law popped the hood/ front end opened and didnt shut it
hood lights stayed on and drained battery completely dead
charged battery up but the health was weak
replaced battery with a autocraft gold with build date of 5/11
the next weekend while diagnosing i noticed my voltage dropping pretty low while cranking
had battery tested and sure enough it was bad
only had 122cca which it should of had 775cca

installed new battery then while cranking i could smell fuel coming from the exhaust now

a little better discription on how i installed distributor

removed #1 spark plug
placed finger over spark plug hole
rotated engine until compression was felt
continued to rotate until no compression was felt
looked down at balancer
timing notch lined up exactly with degree tab on cover
rotated oil pump shaft to where i needed it
rotated rotor button and installed
made sure rotor button was pointing dead at the #1 post
installed cap

will try to check timing with light and see where its at

all my previous posts where posted using my phone so it was a pain to write down everything

forgot to mention there is a hypertech coil and hypertech chip in ecm

is it possible i have a bad injector on both sides kicking the injector driver off?
even though i noid light tested everywire with all other injectors plugged in

thanks again everybody
you have been so helpful

 

if it ran prior to the work it should run after the work, thats to many things wrong on a car that ran, throwing parts and then throwing more parts doesnt work , you really should check compression on all cylinders before doing any thing else.

 

Trying to prove that the valves are too tight are we.

 

there is another post on here, from "mustaban." I posted the dist install instructions the way I do it, aligning the oil pump "where you need it" so that #1 is pointing towards the 5 on the clock face. your way should be very close. to be sure, you can turn dist hsng CCW .060-.120" or so to bump it up. I put paint dots on hsng and intake or hold down clamp for baseline -scratch, or whatever..
the dist drive lug or flat will always be in the same orientation as the rotor, and memory says it is exactly in the same plane.
note: the compression was felt as the mark on the balancer approaches the 0 on the timing tab, you'd have to go a full crank rotation to be at #1 exaust stroke. which you didn't do. if you were off one tooth on the dist gear you could still turn it to 6* advance or whatever, but the elect conn would not be in original location. or, simply remove, roate rotor accodringly, try again.

the advice on setting valves is fine, also. as long as the lifter is on the base circle of the lobe, and does not have to be precisely at the centerline of the eccentric, or high point, it is not moving, so that is time to set clearances.
jc

 

Well after countless hours of testing
I found all the injectors where bad or clogged
Replaced them and fuel filter
its running great now

Thanks everybody for the help

 

wow... bad fuel? or... what?

 

I'm thinking either the fuel filter busted and clogged injectors
Or maybe something got in the fuel line during repair

I installed a set of stock 305tpi injectors off my buddys nitrous fed firebird
Just cranked motor over and all injectors where firing

Installed acell 23lbs injectors and presto
I replaced filter and flushed lines before firing up on new injectors

After driving the vette around for the day I have to admit
I'm in love with it and cone next year I hope to own 1