Hey guys. So the rebuilt motor is all in my '97, and it won't start. I got the MFI upgrade off of Amazon, so the FPR on that had better be good. I thought it was fuel at first, so I've tested the pressure. I get 60ish upon "key on" and when cranking. As soon as the pump stops, it drops to 51 or 52 and stays there for the 10 mins, dropping only a couple of psi. Is that acceptable? If not, what needs replacing?

Before I tested the fuel pressure, I suspected spark. I followed the instructions at Part 1 -Ignition Control Module (ICM) Test: GM 4.3L, 5.0L, 5.7L. and I got no flashing on the 3rd test and flashing on the 4th, which is supposed to indicate a bad ignitor. $75 later, I have a new BWD ignitor that fails that test just like the original did... even though I have orange spark at the plug wire with an old plug. (It was a quick check, I can pull one of the new ones out and see what color that spark is.) If I crank without the coil->rotor wire on, the coil arcs to its body/the intake manifold... so there's spark. I have not yet testded the crank sensor, but since the LED flashed on test#4 and I have spark, I doubt it's bad.

Provided that the fuel and spark are acceptable in their current status, that leaves timing. I'm not certain that I timed it right, but I'm also not certain that I didn't.

I turned the crank until close to TDC on cyl1, where the harmonic balancer's first mark lined up with the notch on the front of the timing chain cover. Inserted distributor, lined up the metal tab on the rotor with the "6" spot on the distributor base, bolted down.

Now here's where it gets tricky... How far off is too far? There are lines in the plastic to either side of the metal tab, and the one to the left (looking down from the top) of the tab was dead on the "6". Is that too far off?

I realize that being off by only 1 tooth is too much, I'll have to get a long screwdriver to turn the oil pump shaft with and try again tomorrow, I think I found a tooth that will drop the dizzy to right where I want it.

Please advise.

 

I'm not quite sure you are using the correct mark on the harmonic balancer. You should remove the #1 plug and make sure you are TDC on the compression stroke. Your balancer can slip and you should not go by that.

 

Got it.

If you ever have this issue, I had issues timing against the first mark on the balancer. The second mark (which I only noticed was aligned once I verified TDC) worked fine.

The wrong mark gave me the following two gear teeth to pick from:





But the right mark (AKA TDC) gave me this option:


So if you can only get it to look like the top two pictures, check TDC or at very least try the second mark.