Cranks like its out of time

[Kpritchett]

I have a 1998 Tahoe with a 5.7. over the last 6 months or so it has become increasingly harder to start. had to have a new flywheel installed about 3 months ago and put on a new starter about a month ago. for the last month it has not been starting. It cranks like it is out of time or binding maybe. so far i have advanced the distributor by 2 teeth and the went 2 teeth retard with no change in cranking. every once in a while but not very often it will crank like it should but then go back to the cranking like it is out of time again. this past week end I checked again to verify that it has spark whick it does, it has 61psi fuel presure with key on not cranking and 50psi when cranking. this weekend i also tried a different distributor with no change so when i put my original distributor back in and set it according to the chevy service manual it cranked less than one full turn and started. i let the motor run for approx 10 min shut it off and now it is like it is out of time again. any help would be gratly appreciated thanks in advance.

 

[wjburken]

I have a 1998 Tahoe with a 5.7. over the last 6 months or so it has become increasingly harder to start. had to have a new flywheel installed about 3 months ago and put on a new starter about a month ago. for the last month it has not been starting. It cranks like it is out of time or binding maybe. so far i have advanced the distributor by 2 teeth and the went 2 teeth retard with no change in cranking. every once in a while but not very often it will crank like it should but then go back to the cranking like it is out of time again. this past week end I checked again to verify that it has spark whick it does, it has 61psi fuel presure with key on not cranking and 50psi when cranking. this weekend i also tried a different distributor with no change so when i put my original distributor back in and set it according to the chevy service manual it cranked less than one full turn and started. i let the motor run for approx 10 min shut it off and now it is like it is out of time again. any help would be gratly appreciated thanks in advance.

First off, welcome to the forum from Iowa. Lots of knowledge lurking around here.

As for your problem, I am not all that familiar with the particulars of your vintage of vehicle, but a few questions come to mind.

1). Why did you change your flywheel and starter?

2). What do your plugs and plug wires look like? How many miles on them?

3). When you say it sounds like it’s out of time, is it turning over just fine but just not firing? What are you hearing that makes you say this?

4). How old is your battery?

 

[alpinecrick]

Because the starter has been worked on, it sounds more like a ground issue. Check grounds, check for broken or corroded ground wires. Check the negative battery cable where it grounds to the block. Then the wires to the solenoid.

 

[OR VietVet]

Yes, welcome to the forum from Oregon.

I would pull plugs and inspect them and compare them and then run a compression test. Plus, like Casey said, check all grounds and electrical connections. Battery age? Was the flywheel and starter replaced in an attempt to fix this problem or what was the reason?


We recommend that you put all your rig(s) info in your signature so we all don’t have to guess at year, make, model, engine size, trans, rear axle locker…….etc. While you may have posted pertinent info in your first post, you may forget to do it again and the info is needed by us anyway. Makes it way easier on all members that attempt to help, to have that info right up front. It is also recommended that you take a pic of your RPO codes, on the inside cover of the glove box, and post that image in your signature. All this info will greatly help those that will try to help with a problem.


If there is any other info, like upgrades, mods or recent mechanical/maintenance work done, that would be helpful in any post as well. Too many times a question is asked by the poster and after about 10 responses we find out that the poster has done recent work to attempt to fix the problem or work that was done that SEEMS not related to the problem.

 

[exp500]

Any Codes? Have you set the Cam retard offset? 0 degrees +/- 1 degree at 1000 rpm. Aftermarket Crank posistion sensor? Give us more info please.

 

[willxfs]

Six months ago my rig 1998 2door 4wd started running bad. Then one day it wouldn't start. Thought starter or battery was bad. Did lots of testing on those. Both checked out fine. It ended up being my distributor cap. Was only a few years old with less than 5k miles but time and moisture corroded the contacts so bad the engine wouldn't start. Now I always check my cap and rotor, even if they are not that old and good quality (AC Delco). I like the procedure in the link below for setting the distributor. Good luck and keep us posted.

http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articles/distributor.html