Died again, No start, ran out of parts/ideas, Help plz

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mkingan

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Well i'm back again with same issue. 1st specs: 1999 Tahoe Z71 5.7 4 wheel drive.
About 4 months ago had same problem . Truck died all of a sudden while going to get pizza. Towed home and found i had ignition problem. So i went thought the gambit. New wires, plugs, Coil, ignition module, Cap, Rotor. The distributor itself was only 1 year old so it was left alone. Put it all back together and fired right up. Drove great, no codes, no missing, great. This truck sits 80% of the time unless i need it to go to home depot or tow something, deer camp, etc. Went out to take it to home depot to get some trim pieces and its doing the same thing. Turns over no start. Did just some basic diagnostic and its not fuel. fuel pressure good and even tried starting fluid. No go. The only thing i can think of is the distributor gear has worn down, everything else is new. I checked the cap rotor look brand new like i put them on yesterday. No arching anywhere i can see. I am a little concerned to pull the distributor cause i messed it up last time and couldn't get it timed right after marking everything and shop even had a heck of time. Any suggestions on where to go from here? I'm about to pull the distributor and see if the gear is worn cause thats all i can think of. it be a shame if it is being a year old Billet one. Any help would be greatly apprciated, i just don't wanna start thowing parts at it again.
 

exp500

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Since you already changed ICM, remove dist cap. Look at it closely for a burn thru around the coil wire terminal on inside of cap. seen a few on new distributors(cheap caps) the United Premiums seem ok. Also check crank sensor wiring. Do you have a code reader? BAFX with torque pro about $25.Also does cam offset angle (distributor timing). A spark tester and fuel pressure gauge are nice to have for these models too.
 
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mkingan

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i replaced the crank shaft sensor already but i'll re-check it. I know its ignition just got to find it. i pulled the cap once, seemed good but ill re-chack everything. I dowubt its the pick-up module in the distributor but will check also. i got a bunch of code readers . i'll see if it has any codes and whats going on report back.
 

liquify33

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I can tell you symptoms of bad crank sensor/harness from experience:

Sensor reading bad:No start. No spark. Will crank. No code.

Sensor dead/unplugged: no crank at all.

sporadic issue: runs REALLY bad and dies over 20mph. Throws code (1309 maybe?)

if you have a spark, probably not your issue.
AFAIK the ignition sequence is crank sensor-computer -ICM-coil-distributor
Parts are mostly easy to replace, troubleshooting can be a Mofo though without some old school things (timing light or spark tester) and newer scanners.
 

dkknaebel

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I went through 2 distributors on my 95, and that was with a new crate motor. The distributors/caps and ICMs are a pain. Also check your connectors going to your ICM. I had to replace both of mine. Getting that distributor to seat, at least on my motor, was the biggest PITA
 
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mkingan

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well after more diagnostics. it finally though a P0336 code. so i'm going to swap the sensor out see what happens from there
 

liquify33

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That $30 sensor has caused me to nearly replace distributor a 2nd time, and think my transmission was about to explode and fuel pump was failing. It’s on my shelf in the garage so I can swear at it when things aren’t going right. Kinda like the voodoo doll of my truck.

FWIW, I used 1 spacer at 125K miles.
 

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