Ok, today I tried once more to crank to see if the starter would've magically fixed itself :P Well, now I get a loud click noise when I turn to crank. I guess this is the solenoid. So my starter could've fused to the brushes I guess..

Is there a way without removing the starter to unjam it? I tried whacking it a couple of times to no avail..

I might as well take the truck to a garage nearby, I am not properly setup to work on it, it's raining, it's outside in my parking lot and I don't have a jack.

Unless someone proves me that I can remove the starter easily without removing the right front wheel to access the wire connectors.. ? Hmm

 

You can try and bang the starter with hammer a few times and see if that frees it up,if not its going have to be changed out.

 

Ok it's fixed!

I had to bring it to a garage, didn't have time, space, nor will to fix it in my driveway.
The starter was broken, they changed cap and rotor and now it runs pretty well!

Never ran that well since I have it! Less money in my pockets, but I'm happy nevertheless!

Thanks guys for your help!

 

Cool! I hope they used an AC Delco cap & rotor

 

Hopefully! At least, next time I'll know the symptoms!

 

Btw, this may seem like a strange question but I have to ask!

Did anybody ever made a conversion to fully electronics ignition? Simply getting rid of the distributor and using the signal to drive multiple coilpacks instead?

Wouldn't that be more efficient? It would also have the advantage of having dynamic retard/advance feature..

 

Great question!

The PCM doesn't have the circuitry to control timing separately on each individual cylinder. It sends a modified ignition pulse to the ignition module and the module tells the coil when to fire, and the distributor sends it to each cylinder. The PCM sends the signal through the EST, (Electronic Spark Timing) output signal, (white wire) directly to the ignition module. On the OBDI "W" engines, that's the wire you had to disconnect to set the ignition timing. It removed all spark advance so you could set base time.

 

hmm, does that mean that the more advance there is, the less power the spark receives? Because it would be offset from the poles in the distributor according to the degrees of advance?

I'm not that familiar with the whole concept, but it sounds to me that there's a physical limit where the rotor needs to be aligned to the poles in the distributor cap.

 

On EDI systems, (late 95 & newer 4.3L) when camshaft retard is set correctly, the rotor segment is aligned with the terminals in the cap when the coil fires, for each cylinder. This keeps the air gap, (that the spark jumps) to a bare minimum and reduces/eliminates crossfire inside the cap. The data is viewed on a scan tool capable of accessing the data stream, (not all scan tools are capable). It is adjusted by slightly rotating the distributor. From the factory, the distributor hold down bracket will only allow ~15 degrees of total adjustment. If you need more than that, there are modifications that must be done.

On the front end of the crankshaft, (behind the timing cover) is a 3X tone ring. The crankshaft position sensor sends 3 pulses per crankshaft revolution to the PCM. (Two crankshaft revolutions are necessary for each of the 6 cylinders to complete each of their 4 cycles.) There is an "identifier" on the tone ring that the PCM interprets as TDC for #1 piston. Each 120 degrees of crankshaft rotation, the next cylinder fires. Using simple mathematics, the PCM "knows" exactly where each piston is, and what cycle it's on. The PCM determines how many degrees of ignition advance to apply and sends a ground pulse to the ignition module, which in turn sends a ground pulse to the ignition coil causing it to fire. Now, this is where camshaft retard data comes into play. The PCM "knows" when the rotor is lined up with the terminal in the cap, and fires the coil at that precise time, with the correct amount of ignition advance applied.


Where the mystery is with EDI: Systems that use plain old electronic ignition, had a reluctor wheel and pick up coil in the distributor, (HEI ignition). Physically rotating the distributor changed "the time" the pick up coil sent pulses to the ignition module. This is what changed ignition timing. It did not affect the orientation of the rotor, so the air gap between the rotor segment and the cap terminal increased. On EDI, the tone ring replaces the reluctor wheel, and the crankshaft position sensor replaces the pick up coil. For all intents and purposes, rotating the distributor on EDI systems does not have a direct affect on ignition timing. If camshaft retard is out of spec, several things occur: The air gap increases causing the coil to increase its output voltage which produces a hotter spark and burns the cap terminals prematurely, and shorten the life of the coil. Crossfire inside the cap increases proportionately with how far off camshaft retard is. The PCM uses data from the camshaft position & crankshaft position sensors to detect, and accurately identify which cylinder(s) are misfiring... if camshaft retard is off, the PCM can not perform this function accurately.

If the timing cover or crankshaft position sensor are moved, removed, replaced, or disturbed in any way, the crankshaft position sensor relearn must be performed. The CKP & CMP sensors work closely together and both must be supplying accurate data to the PCM.

Just a couple of FYI's on the camshaft position sensor:
You can unplug the sensor and the engine will still start and run.
If camshaft retard is out of spec, no DTC's will be set and no SES light until the adjustment is ~27 degrees, or more, out of spec. At that point, DTC P1345 will set and the SES light will come on, (occurs when the distributor is installed at least one tooth off.)

'sigh' does that help?

 

He, helps a bit, although it creates more questions!

First question, from your explanation, the PCM can advance the timing, so there would be no advantage changing to fully electronics ignition ?

Second question, I don't understand how the PCM can advance the timing of the ignition, if it must respect he relation between rotor alignment with poles. There's no way it can change the ignition timing if it must obey this relationship.. ? Unless I don't understand what ignition timing is, I would have thought it's in relation with the angle of the crankshaft/the position of the piston.