96 Blazer Timing Problem

[LukeBickers]

i just changed my intake gaskets and had to take off the distributer. now that it is back together, the distributer isn't tight. it is bolted down as tight as it will go, but the distibuter is still loose. what do i need to do? and any suggestions on timing once it is set?

[Mikado14]

Sounds as though you did not get the distributor shaft engaged with the oil pump. You may have to use a screwdriver to turn the oil pump to engage the distributor shaft. One of those trial and error things. Turn the pump, try the dist. and repeat until it seats.

[LukeBickers]

bingo, i fixed that. now, it did start, but it's running terrible! once it got to idling, it would run for a few seconds die down for a split second and come back up. it was idling pretty high and there was an extremely large amount of air coming out. also, the temp came up to about 240 and wouldn't budge from there. there is plenty of fluids in it. any ideas? is it just my timing that needs adjusted?

[Mikado14]

You need your timing adjusted. Try to manually turn the distributor to retard it a bit prior to doing any other adjustments and see how that affects it.

You will need to disconnect the timing wire to eliminate the computer. I believe it is under the glove box but I'm sure if BlazerLT is on, he will know exactly. Once that is disconnected, you can set your timing using the mark on the pulley. When done, reconnect the wire.

[LukeBickers]

alright. that will be my next step. if anyone knows exactly where it is and the best way to get to it, please let me know.

thanks for all your help, so far.

[LukeBickers]

bump this up.

i'm going to work on this in a few hours. how do i get to the timing wire? anyone know for sure?

also, does anyone know if the engine temperature could be in relation to the timing being off? thanks!

[Jeremy-WI]

TO set the timing on the 96 and newer, get the engine to tdc on the compression stroke of cylinder #1. Now on the distributor gear there is a dimple(above or below the pin that holds the gear on) that must be lined up with a line on the distributor shaft. Check to see if the distributor gear will line up correctly with the oil pump- may need LONG screwdriver and flashlight. Now carefully install distributor, if its installed correctly the rotor should be pointing towards a 'V" shaped pointer on the distributor housing(should be close on a v6)

[BlazerLT]

HOLD ON GUYS!

You CAN'T adjust the timing on a 1996!

It is complete computer and sensor controlled.

DO NOT ADJUST!!!

[gmsteve455]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

HOLD ON GUYS!

You CAN'T adjust the timing on a 1996!

It is complete computer and sensor controlled.

DO NOT ADJUST!!!

Correct, you can not adjust the timing but you do need to correct the CKP/CMP correlation problem. I just built a 4.3 and put the distributor in the engine while #1 was at TDC on the compression stroke and the rotor was pointing to the "6" arrow on the distributor body. The rotor was actually a little to the left of the arrow but it was as close as I could get it. I started the motor and got a check engine which turned out to be the P1345 code. The snappy trouble shooter said that the distributor was probably 1 tooth off so I'm going to remove the distributor and move it one tooth clockwise and see what the cam retard is. Right now it reads 45 but the troubleshooter said that it should be -1, 0 or 1. Hopefully that will work any other ideas? I'm going to try this out tonight when I get home from my real job.

Steve

[Jeremy-WI]

You must be a tooth off yet, I think the spec on the 4.3 is +/- 15 degrees, on the V8's its +/-2 degrees probably because the 4.3 has the fixed distributor. It might be +/-20 on the 4.3

[LukeBickers]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

HOLD ON GUYS!

You CAN'T adjust the timing on a 1996!

It is complete computer and sensor controlled.

DO NOT ADJUST!!!

ok, then what could be wrong? what do i do now?

[BlazerLT]

You sure you installed the distributor exactly the way it came out?

Have you had the engine hooked up to a scanner and checked the sensor conditions?

[LukeBickers]

no, i'm not sure. i thought that i had, but i'm not positive. i'll check that out tomorrow.

[gmsteve455]

I got mine running without the check engine last night. Exactly as Jeremy-WI said, get the engine to TDC compression stroke on #1, line up the mark on the distributor gear with the white line on the housing above the gear before you put the distributor in. When it is all the way in (engaged to the cam gear and oil pump), the rotor will be very close to the arrow on the top of the housing. Mine started up fine with no problems and the scanner said that the cam retard was 0 degrees. Time to drive it out of my barn . . . .

[BlazerLT]

Excellent.