Starting problem and a couplr other questions

ok well i got the whole engine assembled last night (4 hours with breaks and talking to people and phone, not too bad for oil pan, head, exhaust and intake, dizzy, and valve cover) went to start it, the battery was dead. charged it up, but not its not starting. there is a spark coming from dizzy to the wires, but thats about all i know. its sounding like it wants to start, but won't spark or something. i am pretty damn sure the timing is way off (seeing as neither the cam, crank, or dizzy were marked before taking them off and all were adjusted), but would that be enough to not have it start?

another question, while i was trying to turn it over, there was a bit of smoke coming from the intake manifold through my intake filter. any ideas on that also?

and finally, how do you turn the dizzy to adjust the timing on these cars? I have teh A6

well yes if your timing is so far off then your car will not start. prolly caused by not marking the cams and shit.

what color was the smoke from the intake? this is very wierd.

and to adjust the timing from the dizzy, just loosen the bolts and push the dizzy toward the firewall to advance and toward the front bumper to retard, that might be the other way around, i dont remember.

white smoke, but it was misty and faint. and what do you mean move it, how? its bolt up with three bolts, so how do i just move it?

also, i just took the dizzy cap off, and its sounding the same when i turn it over. so my guess would be that either there isn't a smpark coming from the dizzy (tho when we checked for a spark from the cap tot he wires we saw one) or no fuel....


just somemore insite

just loosen the bolts up a lil, and you'll be able to move the dizzy back and forth.

ok so you took off the cap and same sound huh, so def an ignition problem then, check your plugs and make sure they aint fouled up, then check your wires and then test a new dizzy on it.

ok brand new plugs,just put them in so i doubt those are bad.
what would be the best way to check the plugs?
and how do i check if the dizzy is bad, seeing as I don't have another distributor lying around

if the timing is off on the crank side it will sound the same regardless if the dizzy cap is off...my car will run regardless of how the dizzy is set...it doesnt run right..but it runs...are there no marks on the cam or the crank at all...if you have the stock cam gear then it just says up and then you can just #1 piston at top dead center

are there marks on the crank to say which piston is up? b/c i'm thinkin i'm gonna hafta reset the whole thing to fix the timing, but i don't wanna take the head off again. suggestions?

when the cam gears have the "UP" mark at the top, your number one piston should be at TDC.

ok damn, i was told by another dude to make the two center pistons all the way up when the cam is at UP, but i guess it makes more sense to have the 1st piston. so am i'm lookin at taking the head back off or can i adjust the crank pulley without it?

it'd be better if you remove the head, it will be much easier, cuz if your shit is way off what may seem like the #1 at TDC may be the #4 at TDC.

so remove the head and see how it goes, make sure the piston is on the compression stroke too.

ok but don't 1 and 4 move together?

just remove the spark plug and stick something down in the well and turn the engine till the piston is all the way up..pretty simple dont have to remove the head

ok did the spark plug thing,so now piston 1 is at TDC. Next question, my Chilton kinda tells how to, but maybe someone can clarify, how do i loosen the timing belt enough to take it off? i'm pretty sure i gotta get to the tensioner, but how? and i have A/C

Remove power steering, a/c, and alt belts. Remove crank pulley. Remove timing belt cover and you will be able to see the tensioner.

got it all worked out, without taking any pulleys or anything off, just had an army guy,aif force guy, and marine force it on with "physics" :) but before i put it all back together, i wanna adjust the valves. i have my chilton but again, it sucks. says the basics how to do it, but not what teh clearance needs to be. anyone??

20 intake, 25 exhaust. The engine can be put back toghter besides the valve cover.

yeah the whole engine is together besides the valve cover, so i'm really close now. but when you say 20 and 25,i'm lost. the feeler gauges i have from my neighbor say like

.005
.127
mm

so what would 20 and 25 be in mm? and is that supposed to be .005-.127mm?