Ok I'll check those places after we get it running long enough. The last and only time I've had it scanned was when my uncle scanned it after the head gasket job and there wasn't any codes, should I have it scanned again ?

 

It's OK - I thought you had a scanner. No big deal. Really nothing to worry about at this point.

 

I'd like to know the answer to what "C-N-T" has asked in post #97

You said you were not able to turn the engine by hand?

But with the starter it did turn over?

And what noise did it make?

And did it start right away or did it require a lot of turns on the starter?

 

Before it happened, I was turning the engine over by turning the alternator bolt clockwise and pulling the tension pully up as I turn, with the screwdriver in the hole. I kept turning waiting for compression to blow the screwdriver out. I noticed the alternator was spinning but the other pullys werent moving and the belt was sliding across the other pullys. Forgeting about the screwdriver I turned they key and heard a "kink" sound. I went to check the screwdriver and the tip had been broken off. Called my grandpa, he told me I had to remove the head to get the tip and check the piston head. As I did that, I changed the blown head gasket.

The engine did not knock like this when I bought the truck. I knew it had a blown head gasket when i bought it. They told me the engine never over heated. They said it died on them and they pushed it back home and it sat for 2 weeks before I bought it. Drove fine until i changed the oil, it had a lack of power during acceleration. First thing i did was remove the milky oil, and I overfilled it by 2 QTS and added Bar's Leak Blown Head Gasket Fix to the radiator. The oil was milky brown, like coffee with creamer. Drove it around my apt complex after I changed the oil and thats when I noticed the lack of power, thought it was fuel filter so I replaced it, but it still wasn't trying to pull and I would have my foot to the floor to get it to get up, kind of pump the gas pedal. I'm guessing it was the overfilled oil causing that.
Eventually I ended up replacing the intake manifold and after some trouble with installing the distributor, I fired it up and it started and ran but had that knock and has had it ever since.

 

Let us think about that over the weekend.

 

In my previous post i was thinking something is wrong in the timing but thinking about it now are you sure you have the plug wires on the distributor cap correctly? Its kinda odd on these caps.

the drivers side starting in the front and going back is not 1,3,5 wires like you would think. Its actually 3,1,5. so the #3 plug wire is first then #1 then #5.
on the passenger side its the usual 2,4,6, then coil wire.

 

Yes I just installed my wires and their in the right places, on the cap their are the numbers. I plugged them in on the cap and followed the firing order to attach them to the plugs and double checked before moving to the next plug. Waited until daylight to check my vacuum lines and I had none of my lines connected.

 

Ok, I waited until daylight to check my vacuum lines and I had none of my lines connected. Installed my valve covers back on, connected all the lines, put everything back together correctly, turned the key over...dead battery, waiting on it to charge up now so Ill fire her up tonight or tomorrow and Ill shoot another video and upload it. The video link Im adding this time, has the dash gauges on start up and running a little (had to keep my foot on the gas to keep it from stalling). Also I show the engine bay with the engine running, notice the shaky engine when the rpm lowers but as I give it some gas and rpm rises the shaking stops and quiets. Smoke was coming from the throttle body ? Could this be because none of my vacuum lines weren't connected ?

PS from the July 1st - 4th, my salvage yard is having a 40% off sale on everything, including engines. I can afford the engine with that discount. If we can figure out before the first if I should keep working on this engine or replace it, that would be great so I can plan ahead, don't want to miss this opportunity if I need it ! I really appreciate all the help you've given me so far !!! We're finally closing in on this problem !!

 

Ok, as a future reference and if needed, I plan on pulling an engine (4.3 Vortec) from a '97 Oldsmobile Bravada. It hasnt been touched and it only has 44,000 miles on it ! Now, if I bring a car battery and attach it to that truck, (in case I dont have to manually check the engine) could I hotwire it to fire the engine up ? If not Ill check it manually, but if so, how can I hotwire it ?

 

Something is still not correct with the timing in that engine. It should crank nice and smooth. when you hear it crank then slow then crank fast again that usually means something is incorrect with the timing. I have seen vehicles actually blow the plugs out of the heads because of this. Is it possible the distributor is off by 1 or 2 teeth? You need to make sure you are at top dead center and on the compression stroke. This means that the #1 piston has to be all the way at the top of the cylinder and both valves have to be closed. That is true Top Dead Center for the engine. Then make sure that the rotor inside the distributor lines up with the #1 plug on the distributor cap when the distributor is fully seated. You need to make sure the rotor is aligned to the #1 plug on the inside of the distributor cap. not the plugwire on the outside. Use a test light or multi meter to find which on is the #1 point You cant just like the rotor up with the plug wire like the old engines.

I say all of this because I have done it in the past. I installed the distributor 180 degrees off on the first Performance V8 engine I put together for my old S10 and almost destroyed a brand new cam shaft. the piston was at the top of the cyl and I didnt know about the valves at the time. so I installed the distributor and aligned with #1 plug the first few times I cranked it she was popping through the carb like yours is coming through the throttle body. Once I installed the dist correctly it cranked right up and ran like a dream.

Would you be able to get the engine at TDC and take a picture of the distributor with the cap off so we can see where the rotor is sitting?
If you still have the timing mark on the harmonic balancer and the timing tab on the block or timing cover line those up.

Also I am still curious how you checked the bearing in the bottom end? did you pull main caps off to see the inner surface of the bearings?