Home   Tips and Tech notes.

V-8 Firing Order

All V-8 engines share the same firing order.   The cylinders may be numbered differently, but the firing sequence is the same.   They firing orders are often mirror images, etc of each other but they are the same.

Look at the following diagrams:

FordFE 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8


FordSB 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8


Chevrolet 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

Notice that every V-8 has a pair of cylinders on one corner that fire next to each other.

The revised small block firing order just moved it from 7-8 to 5-6.   And on the Chevrolet is 5-7.

Or consider the following for the two Ford sequences:
A corner 4 (FE) or 1 (SB);
a cylinder two away on the same side 2 (FE) or 3 (SB);
the opposite cylinder across the motor 6 (FE) or 7 (SB);
the cylinder diagonally across the motor 3 (FE) or 2 (SB);
the opposite cylinder across the motor 7 (FE) or 6 (SB);
the one on the end next to it 8 (FE) or 5 (SB);
the diagonally opposite corner 1 (FE) or 4 (SB);
the corner across the engine 5 (FE) or 8 (SB);
the corner diagonally opposite across the engine 4 (FE) or 1 (SB) starts the sequence again.