hi guys, need some serious help here.

1967 plymouth fury III 383.

one day driving down the road, a loud backfire then engine died, wouldn't start. so I had it towed home and have replaced the following since:

new distributor, new ignition coil, new fuel pump, new fuel filter.

still wont start. but I can feel it really WANT TO start, so close..... yet.....

I used the spark tester, has sparks to the plugs.

what am I missing? what else should I try?

please help.

If the motor has a lot of miles on it I would guess the timing chain skipped a tooth.

That was my first thought as well.

Mine too, happened to me with a '68 440.

thanks guys.

is it a difficult job to adjust timing?
is there a link for the procedure?

thanks

skipped a tooth means time for a new timing chain and gears

If you are lucky, if not it means bent valves.

please tell me what I should do first, second.....

thanks

Find someone locally that can help. This is not a job for a brand new car guy. You can fumble through it and maybe figure it out but this isn't as simple as changing a few external parts.

Remove your distributor cap so you can see the rotor.

Get a breaker bar & find a socket the right size for the harmonic balancer bolt inside the crank pulley.

Rotate engine just until you see the rotor end move.

Then change directions, if you can turn the engine several degrees before the rotor starts to swing back, your timing chain and / or pulleys have worn to excess.

thanks, exactly the kind of help I am looking for.

I will do it tomorrow and report back.

Another way to check for a skipped timing chain is to pull out the coil wire, take off the air filter, and have a helper crank the engine. Hold your hand over the carburetor throat while cranking. You should feel only suction at the carb. if you get puffs of air pushing up out of the carb it's a timing chain issue.

You might do a compression test, easy & non invasive. The socket for the crank priorly mentioned is 1&1/4". As said I would ask for some help. Holler how it turns out.

If your timing chain jumped, you may start losing teeth on your torque converter/flywheel (if you have an automatic transmission) when your engine backfires. If this starts to happen don't waste your time and assume that it is a starter issue. Unfortunately, I'm speaking from experience...
Good luck.

Even a low compression 383 is an interference engine. Found that out the hard way (my brother was driving the car at the time). I was in a back brace following a broken back, BUT I replaced the timing set AND the bent pushrods (15 of 16 were bent, but all were replaced). Valves were clearly bent, but we never dug further into it. Dad traded it in later that summer (1980).

Best 1st move to make IF you KNOW that motor has many miles on it, OR even if you don't.
A true roller chain/gear would have to wear alot before skipping. Those plastic coated teeth gears, not so much.
When those plastic pcs. break off the gears, they usually fall into the oil pan.
Drain some oil & see what's there.

Skipping one tooth will not make it not run! I would say it has jumped timing but not just one tooth.

One tooth, two teeth, ten teeth, point is it needs to be checked and fixed regardless of the number of teeth it may have jumped.

Find yourself a Chiltons manual for that year and follow the diagnostic guide. Here’s one that I found on the net.


https://www.ifitjams.com/starting.htm

If the timing chain is OK check the carburetor for fuel problems.

Backfires can bust power valves and bend plates that may prevent starting. Most backfires do not cause problems, some do.

Additionally if it isn't the timing chain you need to find the source of the backfire. Probably a misfiring plug cause by bad wires, cap, or plug.