I have a 98 blazer, 4.3. It was leaking coolant from intake so I changed gaskets . I put a new Roter and cap on it. Ran fine for thirty miles until a screw came loose from roter.,I was accelerating at the time.the Roter came loose wrecking part of the distributor making roter spin free . Sometimes it would pop but wouldn't start. Now I put new distributor in at TDCits about 1/4 inch past 6 the alignment spot .still won't start . Did I jump the timing chain when distributor stripped out??? Been 4 long days.

 

You disrupted the timing on it. With the distributer out of its spot it's no longer tap dead center so the firing order is wrong. To get it back isn't extremely difficult. Take the spark plug out of cylinder 1,which is the front driver side,and put a rolled up paper towel in it. Slowly and carefully hit ignition until the first cylinder is up. You'll hear it shoot the napkin out. Then instal your distributor with the rotor pointing at the first cylinder. Hope this helps.

 

Using the napkin method will push the napkin out on the compression, and the exhaust strokes. You'll still need to get #1 piston at TDC, then figure out if it's on the compression stroke, or the exhaust stroke. There is an easier way.

With the ignition off: Using a ratchet and socket on the crankshaft center bolt, manually rotate the crankshaft ONLY clockwise until the timing marks are aligned like this:



AND the rotor is within a few degrees of this:



If the rotor is not within a few degrees, but less than ~45 degrees, remove the distributor and install it so the rotor points to the #6 on the distributor housing like the image above. If the engine tries to start but backfires, align the timing marks on the crankshaft again, and make sure the rotor points 180 degrees away from the "6". Remove the distributor and install it so the rotor points to the "6" on the distributor housing, (directly toward the passenger side of the vehicle). DO NOT rotate the crankshaft while the distributor is removed.

 

Don't forget to unplug the wire while doing it. Small black pig tail under carpet

 

If you're referring to the EST wire behind the passenger side carpet, early 95 and older have HEI ignition and have that circuit. Late 95 and newer have EDI ignition, and base ignition timing is not adjustable.

 

Problem solved. Thanks everyone for your help.the new distributor was remand incorrectly. The top piece was mounted about 10 degrees off .Got another one and it started right up .Thanks again!!