1978 Toronado XS- I NEED HELP!!

[gmcaprala]

Hello everybody, I’m having trouble with my recently purchased 1978 Toronado XS. The car will not start, everything works, but I have no spark. I have power going to the dist. but none at the plugs. All tune-up stuff is new, and I’ve been checking any fuse, power, or ground connection I can find. I’ve been doing ALOT of research, and I’ve found (of all places) an article on wikipedia pertaining to the 1977-1979 Olds 403 motor. It basically says the TORONADO version of the 403 is different than any other car/403 combo. Something about a special dist. that is tooth driven at the crank and is run on a couple sensors and is even looped to a small computer behind the dash? From what I’m gathering, I’ve pin pointed my problem area to the dist... the special dist. So, I guess I’m looking for some advise, or tips, or some general knowledge of this crazy system. And please be honest, HOW BAD DID I SCREW MYSELF GRABBING THIS ULTRA ODD CAR?

[bcroe]

Its not a big problem at all. Here is the scoop. The 403 didn't quite meet emissions
with the same setup as the other small block 350. So they put poorer advance
curves in the HEI into the RWD cars for emissions, which hurt performance. They
really needed performance for the heavy Toro, so they put in an electronic advance
computer with temp sensing to set advance in a special HEI. Now they got performance
and emissions.

HOWEVER just dropping a standard Olds 350 HEI into a 403 will give the same
performance as the electronic computer. You won't need all that special stuff
they put in the 77 and 78 Toro. And it will really be noticeable in the RWD cars
too. I doubt any local emissions checker will pick up a difference; all my 403s
passed with a 79 350 HEI. Bruce Roe

[gmcaprala]

Wow, thank you so much for that info. That really does clear up some grey areas I had on it. I do have just a couple more questions, pertaining to diagnosing/fixing my distributor; is the ignition module in that specific to the computer HEI? Or any other dist. internals for that matter? I would like to make my dist. work if possible.. I bought this car non-running, out of long-time storage... for some reason the dist. was in 180? Can’t understand how or why someone would play with the dist during a tune-up.. then, put it back the wrong way?? So, that made everything out of whack. I was told the car ran ‘rough' after the "tune-up” (I can only imagine) and only a few times due to the work was done while the car was in long storage already. Then, years later, it barely sputtered out of storage a year ago, and now won’t start. So that’s where I’m at. Trying to make sense of a drunken tune-up done 20+years ago, to a car with a unique starting system. Im thinking the few times the car ran with everything backwards it could’ve blown the module? Or pick-up coil? If I can get a replacement module, I’ll do that. But if the pick-up coil is bad, I think that’s when I will look into a 350 Olds Dist. So it drops right in and allows me to bypass all the special equipment?

[bcroe]

is the ignition module in that specific to the computer HEI? Or any other dist. internals for that matter? I would like to make my dist. work if possible.. I bought this car non-running, out of long-time storage... for some reason the dist. was in 180? Can’t understand how or why someone would play with the dist during a tune-up.. then, put it back the wrong way?? So, that made everything out of whack. I was told the car ran ‘rough' after the "tune-up” (I can only imagine) and only a few times due to the work was done while the car was in long storage already. Then, years later, it barely sputtered out of storage a year ago, and now won’t start. So that’s where I’m at. Trying to make sense of a drunken tune-up done 20+years ago, to a car with a unique starting system. Im thinking the few times the car ran with everything backwards it could’ve blown the module? Or pick-up coil? If I can get a replacement module, I’ll do that. But if the pick-up coil is bad, I think that’s when I will look into a 350 Olds Dist. So it drops right in and allows me to bypass all the special equipment?

There are lots of ways to put in a distributor that will work fine, as long as the rotor
is pointing at the #1 wire when the #1 piston is at the top of the compression stroke.
If you have as many Olds engines as me, its just a lot simpler to make them all the
same as factory. I would worry about your timing chain, as these often have the plastic
cam sprocket teeth fall off from age (NOT miles). This would not be the first 78 Toro
I know of with that issue. If there isn't excessive slack in the chain, you might change
it after other stuff is fixed.

Everything in your 78 Toro ignition is special one year only. POSSIBLY the HEI cap
and coil are the same. Just install a 350 HEI and ignore all the custom parts in
it now. I had all that stuff decades ago; don't know where you'd find the electronic
module, totally custom HEI, intake with temp sensor, and more that I forget, at this
late date. You could drop in a 403 HEI, but you will give up performance. I have
tried every combination, with half a million miles on 403s. Bruce Roe, NW IL

[gmcaprala]

Ok, definitely starting to seem like a 350 HEI will be a better option for me in the short, and long run. So, the existing crank/tooth system won’t interfere with dropping in the 350? And in regards to the sensors, can i just leave them in the engine and just disconnect everything from the computer? And is anything else in the car looped into the computer I’ll be eliminating? Like fuel economy gauge? (I think that’s vacuum?) And just out of curiosity, if the 350 HEI is such a good, relatively quick fix to the emission/power issues plaguing the 403 engine from day 1, why didn’t Olds just put the 350 HEI in from day 1? Again, thank you for the info!