New engine stalls when shifting

[Deaglans Dad]

1985 Dodge 600 convertible, "D" engine (2.2 l EFI, non-turbo).

The last engine died due to overheating while my wife was driving it. I'm still not sure what happened but it may have been the radiator. In the process of replacing the engine/radiator/waterpump I of course had to remove the distributor. New engine is now in and I've got the distributor in at what I would think is the wrong position. The rotor is by the #3 terminal at TDC but it runs ok at idle that way and the timing is set to 12 degree BTDC. If I rotate the distributor around 180 degree then the engine will not start and backfires.

So ok, at least it idles. The problem is as soon as I shift into reverse the engine promptly stalls. Did I miss something? Is there a cable that I forgot to hook up? Am I wrong about the timing? I don't see any vacuum leaks. Is there something else too look for? The battery is also weak from all of the cranking, can that be a culprit?

Thanks for all of the help.
Will

[K-CAR_WAGON]

Is the timing belt installed properly (timing marks aligning the cam and crank properly aligned) ?

[Deaglans Dad]

I have no idea, I assumed the long block was correct and installed it without checking. The long block is a Marshall 1350C. Do I have to pull the engine to check the timing belt or is it just a matter of pulling the covers?

[K-CAR_WAGON]

You should be able to check the timing mark alignment under the timing covers in the car - like if you were replacing the timing belt in the car. I don't understand you comment about # 3. I think you check timing based on the # 1 cylinder. You might want to wait for other comments before going to the trouble to take off you timing cover in case anyone else has some other better suggestions.

[Deaglans Dad]

Sorry, I got the numbering wrong in my previous post. Looking down at the distributor cap, the #1 cylinder is the upper left terminal of the cap. Going counter-clockwise the #2 terminal is next (lower left), then #4 at lower right (that's the number I got wrong in my previous post), then #3 at upper right. The distributor only goes on two ways so I figure I have a 50/50 chance of getting it right, so at TDC the rotor will either align with the #1 or #4 terminals on the distributor cap. After my first guess as to distributor position the engine fired up and idled ok and I managed to get the timing set. Then with the engine off I used the starter to crank the engine over to TDC (timing mark is at 0 and I can see the #1 piston through the spark plug hole), but when I took the distributor cap off the rotor was at the lower right position. Maybe that was TDC of the exhaust stroke? Anyway, I thought huh? and replaced the distributor around 180 degree so the rotor is at the #1 terminal, tried starting the engine but only got backfiring.

Regardless of the distributor position, the engine idles ok and I think I have the timing set correctly. Could the timing belt be far enough off that you could still get a good idle but die when shifting?

[K-CAR_WAGON]

You could be off by one tooth - when the belt was installed on the gears it may not have been properly aligned. (Its not that difficult to miss by one tooth.) Car might seem to run ok at idle with no load. Also, assuming that the gears are properly aligned there is a specific procedure that needs to be followed when setting the timing. (I think the vacuum input to the spark control module needs to be disconnected) among other things. (Proper RMSs, etc.) Also, your vacuum advance unit in your spark control module might be defective - but if it worked ok before the engine swap that is unlikely. You could also have a vacuum leak or a carb problem.

Also, was it stalling under load before you put the distributor in the wrong position and it backfired? It could have jumped a tooth when backfiring.

[Deaglans Dad]

I will check those (timing, vacuum advance, leaks). Thanks!

[88 aries]

sounds like a timing issue as well as a shift linkage issue