96 LS 4WD cranks, no start (rocker arm torque procedure)

My friend has a 96 Blazer LS 4WD that we believed to have a blown head gasket. The symptom was that the engine was hard to start and once it finally got started, it appeared to be spewing coolant out the back side of the left (drivers') cylinder head. After reading some of the posts, it may have actually been the intake gasket, but its too late now. We bought a head gasket set and started the tear down. We brought the heads to a machine shop to have them cleaned and checked and ended up having a cracked head. We were pleased with ourselves sort of that we found the problem (or at least the machine shop did). I am very thorough when I do a job, so I know that the heads are torqued down correctly, the mating surfaces were clean and free of scarring. We think that we have narrowed the problem down to either timing, fuel pressure (we are getting fuel at the intake manifold, however, we need to check the pressure to see if it is 61 to 66 PSI according to another post I read), or incorrect torquing of the rocker arms...this is where I need your help. In the Chiltons, it has rocker arm installation torque specs and procedures for a 94-95 and a 99 and later. These obviously do not help me very much. Before we got the whole thing back together, I naively followed the 99 and later procedure which states to torque the rocker arms to 20 ft-lbs. In retrospect, I THINK this may be in error. Can anyone out there give me a proper torque specs and procedure for rocker arms on a 96 Blazer LS 4WD? Thanks for listening...

OK, we corrected the timing, and after dumping some fuel into the intake (CSEFI intake) we finally got the truck running, however it was rough. We probably need to move the distributor one tooth to get it right. After we shut it off we tried to restart it again and it wouldn't start even with some fuel in the intake. We hooked up a fuel pressure guage and found that with the ignition on we had 40 psi (which in accordance with previous posts and the manual, this is way low). So my next question is, how do you determine if the fuel pump is bad, or the fuel pressure regulator is bad???

Come on guys 26 people have viewed this post and not one other person has replied but me to my own? Well, here's another update. We replaced the fuel pump today and the truck started almost immediately (after we got the air out of the lines)...a full 61 PSI. We moved the distributor a tooth in both directions and the truck wouldn't start so we moved it back to where the rotor was pointing directly at the mark on the distributor but the truck is still idling pretty rough and backfiring mostly at idle. I still could use the torquing procedures for the rocker arms on a 96 LS with the CSEFI intake, but if anybody has any tips for the backfire at idle job it would be appreciated. I know I'm new to this forum, but throw a guy a bone here!

.... We moved the distributor a tooth in both directions and the truck wouldn't start so we moved it back to where the rotor was pointing directly at the mark on the distributor.......

I have a 93 so I can only relate to similar problems I had.

I did the same as you said with a mechanical alingnment; however, the computer (ECM or whatever) wants to control timing.

You need to disconnect the wire (check this forum) which disconnects the ECM from it's timing function. Then, using a timing light, set the timing to what it says on the info printed in the engine compartment (probably on top of the radiator shroud).

I have read in this forum that the 96 thru 98 are computer timed. The distributor that we have is non-adjustable (this is the first time that I have seen a distr. like this), the yoke LOCKS onto the distributor and there is not the usual elongated hole to rotate the distr. where the bolt attaches the yoke to the intake manifold. As for the directions on the shroud, it seems as though there are a lot of things missing on this shroud...WIERD...the serpentine belt routing, now this timing procedure...I think the previous owner didn't like stickers...anyway, thanks for the post, any ideas are appreciated.

Well, Thanks everyone for all of your help, scoff scoff...we figured out the problem, it was crossed spark plug wires. My buddy put the wires on, in the correct sequence, however he used one of the straight rigid spark plug sockets on cylinder #3 when that one should have gone on the #1 cylinder. I swapped both ends (at the distributor and at the engine) when we first put everything together, but I didn't change it in the wire clamp near the distributor. After 6 or 7 times of pulling the distributor to change the position of the rotor I forgot about the swap, so everytime I hooked up the wires to the distributor after a rotor change I hooked the wires up straight, not crossed. And we also went down another $100 last night when the PLASTIC screw holes to hold the cap on the distributor broke on one side and was cracked on the other. It seems like these parts aren't really designed for the long haul. Anyway, purrs like a kitten now, everything is good and if anyone has that procedure for the rocker arms, I still could use it...