no backfiring. fires up as soon as I hit the key, just runs like doo doo

as i said it sounds very lazy like timing is way off .just for the hell of it turn the dist ccw and see if it wakes up .who knows maybe the balancer moved - timing lights junk ect gotta try something

i had the exact same problem with a 5.7 thunderbolt system. turned out to be a bad connection on the ground wire coming from the thunderbolt module.

check all your points of ground with a volt meter.

exact same symptoms i had.

I'm just gonna start all over with the timing and then I'll go from there.

dude im tellin ya....the black ground layin up there looks EXACTLY like the one that gave me days of trouble.....hook it up and see if it fixes it.....

Thats the only ground not in use, and according to my wiring diagram, its for an electric choke as mentioned earlier.

http://www.selocmarine.com/content/m.../32069w148.pdf

ok.

have you traced it to see where it goes?

i only ask because this is EXACTLY wht my buds boat did when we installe dhis new engine. ran it on the engine test stand and it ran fne. installe dit and it sounded just like yours. nothing change dit. reset timing. changed plugs. wires. fuel source. etc.....

a volt meter will be you best friend in this case. if you eliminate the possible causes...it only leaves the impossible....however unlikely they may seem.

i would try everything i could before you start over.

at any rate...find the wire im tlking about...its a black wire with a ring terminal on it...it comes from the thunderbolt module and grounds to the riser or intake...or any other good ground.

check the quality of the ground if it is indeed grounded. then chack all of your connections....both in correctness and the quality of said connections.

I am a Merchant Marine Engineer and although diesels are my speciality I do know engines..we have a simple saying out here if something isnt operating correctly..'what was the last thing that was worked on?' I agree with 2ton..what does it hurt to look into that ground wire? My father always taught me growing up working on cars and boats alike..start with the simplest solution and work deeper from there..its possible that ground wire got disconnected when you were working on the engine..trace it..verify it..try it

Sounds like the distributor is 180* out. Like mentioned before, pul the #1 plug and verify that the dizzy is set correctly. @ 180 out it will run, but barely. Also double check the firing order, 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. 90% of the time it is something simple.