Thanks for the reply. I bought a new felpro gasket set and distributor. I am going to check the play in the old dist vs the new and see what if any differences there are.

I am leaning toward LIM gasket also which is maybe causing the heater core to have air in it. The heater core itself is only 3years old. I'll post my findings.

As far as the scanner goes. Well I am just borrowing it and the guy does have everything for it but just let me use the scanner and the proper GM key needed. I do remember seeing an option for running tests on the emissions but I do think I need more equipment. I think I will also take the cat out and have it check at a muffler shop and see what they think. Everything seems to be fine but I want to know for sure from an "expert".

Looks like it will be a busy weekend. I also have to pack for our move and put my Trans Am back together after getting all the parts back from the body shop.

 

Well my stock distributor had a lot of play when compared to a new one and the screw holes were also cracked. I replaced it with a new stock replacement which turned out to be defective. I swapped it for another and got it all to fire up. Hooked the scanner to it and went for a ride. Lots of misfires from every cylinder. Not sure what to do now. Jumping off a cliff sounds good. The only cylinder that did not misfire was #5. I don't get it.

I also did a test on my O2's and according to the scanner the CAT is not good. So I am trying to get about of magnaflow to see what their process is for a replacement

Im all ears.

 

Did you make sure the new distributor was in the same orientation and timed the same as the old one? The ECM can only adjust timing so far.

Also, I did my LIM this weekend. Have lots of time and lots of beer handy. I will say it's a wonder my truck ran at all after seeing the old gasket.

 

Yeah man. I checked with the scanner. Everything is idling great. It has nothing to do with the distributor. It could be my LIM but it is pouring rain right now and not supposed to stop four four or five days. I do not have a garage and this time next week I am supposed to drive to CA. I am out of options and way out of money. I do not know what to do anymore. I havent gotten the P0300 yet but I know for a fact I will. The p0420 always shows up first. That comes up due to my Magnaflow CAT. I guess since it flows more air it throws the O2's off. I'm not worried about that one much though. If I can get the misfires to stop I can probably drive it.

I don't have beer but I do have some Jose Cuervo if you want to swing by and help me out. I'm in Carlisle PA. How bad was the "EGR TUBE"?

 

EGR tube wasn't too bad. It's the fact that EVERYTHING is in your way trying to remove it. I have a pic of it all torn apart down to the gasket that might give you an idea. All told it took me about 9 hours but i also soaked my upper and lower manifolds in a parts bath to try to get them cleaned up.

I'm in Reading, PA so i'm about 1.5 hours from ya.

 

HAHAHA You are actually not far from me at all. I have been to Reading a few times.

I am thinking I will just try and find a way to tow it or something with a uhaul truck and work on it in my garage once I get out to CA. Otherwise with this weather I don't think I'll have time.

Feel free to show any pic's taken that might help.

 

Well they don't show as much as i thought. but you can get an idea of what to expect under there.
I thought i had a wider angle view. To get to this point you've got a lot of work. My suggestion would be to read up as much as possible. The 2 lines in the back hanging open are the fuel lines. The egr tube is tucked away to the right of the DS valve cover. One thing i had to do that wasn't mentioned in any of the writeups i saw was remove the relay center box on the DS fenderwell and disconnect the engine harness that goeses over the intake manifold. You can see that i didn't move the alternator (extreme bottom left) or bracket. But i did have to move the ac compressor and bracket out of the way.


Yeah this weather sucks. All week it's supposed to be like this. I'd offer my help but I use my stepdad's garage to work on my stuff and i don't think he'd appreciate me having some random person's truck in there lmao. But if you decide to undertake it let me know I'd be willing to come out and help ya for gas money and beer

 

Well man. When do you work? What kind of beer do you like? Its worth a shot and having someone who just did one would really save some time and possibly damaging other parts. I'll send ya a PM.

I just exchanged my plug wires. They were still under warranty so I figured it wouldn't hurt. They are the Bosch Premium wires. I ran the scanner and still have misfires on all cylinders. Oh yeah and also i can really smell the Antifreeze now. I read somewhere if one or even two cylinders misfire due to a vacuum leak or a contamination in the cylinder that it can throw the other cylinders off.

 

Yeah no problem. If nothing else at least you'll eliminate one more thing from the puzzle. and I'm sure the antifreeze smell is coming from the LIM from my personal experience.

Here's an example of what happens to the plastic cage over time. It kinda disintegrates. I used the felpro metal caged gaskets. you can also see the effects of dexcool on the rear coolant ports.

 

No updates in 2 days.... is it fixed?

I'm getting the P0420 code without all of the other problems you are/were getting. Let me know when you have the problem figured out.