1997 Blazer 2door Base model 5speed manual
Odometer: 138,000 miles

I'm out of ideas. Maybe I'll get a fancy scanner to get better readings on everything.

My last resort is towing him to a shop, which I do not want to do since I do not trust any shop with my Blazer.

I really wanted this done before December, but I'm a very firm believer in things happen for a reason; even when those things suck, so OH WELL.

Here's videos of fuel pressure test and with him cranking but not starting.

Crank no start

Fuel Test

Here's a list of work done/things replaced:

- All upper engine gaskets (head gaskets, upper intake, plenum, valve covers, etc)
- exhaust manifolds and gaskets on the cylinders and to the Y-pipe.
- EGR line from driver manifold to intake manifold
- Push rods
- lifters and lifter guides
- Rockers
- Valves, valve springs, valve spring retainers, valve stem seals (valves were lapped, cleaned and leak tested)
- Knock sensor
- cooling temp sensor (on driver side cylinder head)
- coolant temp sensor (on intake manifold by thermostat)
- Cooling system flushed and drained while the Blazer was running PRIOR to all this work being done.
- radiator cap
- crankshaft position sensor
- timing chain and sprockets
- timing cover
- harmonic balancer
- ignition coil
- ignition control module
- spark plugs and wires
- thermostat
- throttle position sensor
- battery
- battery cables
- ground points cleaned and are all in place
- alternator
- clutch pedal position sensor
- instrument cluster wiring board (the floppy thin wiring board on the back of the instrument cluster. I just swapped the old one with a donor one. The thin wiring on the old one was damaged.)
- cleaned MAF and intake air temp sensors


__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________

Fuses and relays checked and are all working.

The timing is correct. I checked this several times. Engine is top center and distributor lines up where it should within spec.

Bright blue/purple spark from all spark plugs and ignition coil.

Fuel pressure tested from the rail with gauge. Fuel pump is OEM and less than a year old. Turns on and off so the relay and pump are good. Fuel filter was replaced a little over a year ago. Fuel has been sitting in the tank since August 7th, but it was new fuel since I also filled the tank that same day. Fuel leak down test read 55psi after 10 minutes.

Spider injector is new and less than a few years old. Each injector was multimeter tested reading from between 12.2-12.9ohms.

I made sure all hoses and passages were cleaned and open before installing them.

All electrical connectors have 12v power and ground, and again all grounding points in the engine bay were removed and cleaned.

Starter motor is a little over a year old, is strong and it cranks the motor.



I'm sure I covered everything that needed to be covered with a "crank no start" issue, but any help with anything I could've missed would be appreciated. Although I probably won't be able to do anything without "professional" help.

 

What is your ten min fuel pressure leak down value?

Have you performed a compression test after all that work?

Does is start with starter fluid down the intake?

If you have an adjustable distr hold down try rotating through some different positions and see if it at least starts firing.

George

 

Thanks for the reply.

Fuel leak down stayed at 55psi.

Currently did a partial compression test as I ran out of time today. Cylinder 1 read 142psi; cylinders 3 and 5 read 150psi. I'll do the passenger side cylinders tomorrow.
I do smell gas in the cylinders when I did the compression test; and I smell small amount of gas from tail pipe.

I haven't used starter fluid or rather carb cleaner yet, but I'll post the results once I do.

Can't adjust the distributor, I'll need to modify the bracket to do that.


I'm got a smoke machine to test for vacuum leaks also, so I'll post those findings once I do that. I also ordered an ANCEL AD530 scanner to maybe read more data.

 

Ran Compression test again:

C1: 146psi
C2: 147psi
C3: 150psi
C4: 105psi
C5: 150psi
C6: 150psi

Also noticed the tachometer wasn't moving when I was cranking the motor. Bad wiring maybe? This is the second new sensor I put in to check, so not all the new sensors can be bad right out of the box.

The wiring to the crank sensor looks fine and the connectors are clean. The ground to the sensor has continuity. I guess sensor isn't getting power for some reason? I didn't check that yet. This is what I found out today. It started storming bad so I had to stop for now.

 

It sounds like unlikely based on the thoroughness of your post, but is it possible that the ignition timing is off due to the distributor being off by a tooth or two?

I suggest this only because I remember the hassle I had when trying to put my distributor back in after I replaced the LIM gaskets. I discovered that if I didn't have the oil-pump shaft aligned correctly, the distributor would skip a tooth when going in.

 

I'll check again but I'm certain the distributor lined up where it's supposed to be. When I did the timing chain and sprockets I made 100% sure they were in line with eachother before putting the timing cover on.





I inspected the camshaft with an inspection camera while I had everything apart and the surfaces and back gear teeth where it connects to the distributor were fine. Both cam, balance and crank shaft all turned smoothly when I had everything apart.

 

I redid the distributor and made sure it was on the compression stroke by listening to air coming out of cylinder #1. Reinstalled distributer and it lines up.




I think I had the crank rotated opposite of what it should have been. I rotated the motor and lined up the timing marks on the harmonic balancer to the timing cover before I put the distributor in the first time without checking whether or not it was on compression. Maybe I am that dumb. We shall see.

This is my first time using a scanner that can read data. Engine RPM isn't even registering. There should be some signal from the sensor while cranking, but it's constant zero.

 

We've all done a bonehead move now and then!

When it happens to me, I'm often torn between relief that the fix will be easy vs. the embarrassment of my silly mistake being the cause! LOL

 

Yes, I'm doing my best not to get desperate and rush things. Blazer has been out of commission since August. Looking forward to driving again!

Everything put back together and sprayed carb cleaner in the intake. Cranks but nothing sounded different. Cranking video below.
Cranking

 

Okay this thread is done, I got him running. The only thing I changed was adding another spacer to the crank position sensor. Wtf.

He's alive!!!