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Thinking of doing the unthinkable... *Rotor to cap gap. Normal?*

Kinda hoping craigslist will pop up with someone selling off there 5.3 for christmas money that i can jump on. :whistle: But moreover, im hoping to just get this engine running right so that i can not have to spend that much money replacing a motor that is otherwise fresh!
 
have you adjusted them while running at all? did it stay very consistent in it's bad running after each valve adjustment? not that you did, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen people adjust em too tight..

I'm not gonna speculate much till i hear leakdown results and move on to the next diagnostic... if the % are within reason, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out..

oh, one other question, did you use end gaskets on the intake, or a bead of RTV?
 
Ultra Black RTV. No i never adjusted them with it running. No it never made a difference. If anything i think im running them too loose cause i keep convincing myself i might have over tightened them. I have been going to zero lash plus not quite a quarter turn.
 
ok.... give the leakdown a shot, we'll go from there.... oh, one other, have you tried spraying the tbi and intake gasket joints with ether to check for leaks?
 
Over and over again! Never a rev or whimper. To the point where i would shoot some right down the TB to make sure that stuff would actually make a difference if the motor ingested any of it.
 
I dont know why it works but if you pull the air cleaner, let it idle and start cupping your hands over the tbi trying to choke it down. if it speeds up the motor you have a vac leak. if it dies it doesnt. Thats how I was taught.
 
Have you checked the rates of your valve springs? One of the hardest misses I ever diagnosed was related to weak valve springs.
 
yeah, assuming the cylinders are operating correctly, it almost sounded like a leaky intake...

the low vac is most often due to running poorly.. but the plug reading indicated that as a possible issue...

verify good cylinder #'s and we'll go from there...
 
shady said:
I dont know why it works but if you pull the air cleaner, let it idle and start cupping your hands over the tbi trying to choke it down. if it speeds up the motor you have a vac leak. if it dies it doesnt. Thats how I was taught.
Click to expand...

cuz your richening the mix.... I've always liked ether, it's always a surefire easy tell.. but obviously care needs to be taken tho around exhaust, etc..
 
Just a quick word on the valve springs, it doesnt mean much but they were new "z28" valve springs that i had installed when the heads were rebuilt.
 
ryoken said:
cuz your richening the mix.... I've always liked ether, it's always a surefire easy tell.. but obviously care needs to be taken tho around exhaust, etc..
Click to expand...


I guess i should be a little more clear, i was using brake clean which when the motor inhaled it, would make it try to die out.
 
some prefer the carb cleaner/brake clean method... i like ether... i find it reacts better and is more noticeable... but half dozen one way, 6 the other....
 
Just went over my finances and approved myself for a 5.3 swap! Again, im still going to try for a few weeks to get this thing running right. But in the end, i think its destined for the scrap pile.
 
I'll check it out when i get home. My phone doesnt like it and my work computer wont allow the site.
 
Don't be too excited, its a joke. Its a fiber-optic view of a running V8 image in slow motion.
If you can see that with your engine, then you've got a hole in the block somewhere.
 
ryoken said:
some prefer the carb cleaner/brake clean method... i like ether... i find it reacts better and is more noticeable... but half dozen one way, 6 the other....
Click to expand...
Either is much better!!! And more dangerous... short bursts, in open air, don't spray near altenator and if you have a bad spark plug wire arcing it will find it too! :doah:

When you pull that motor I want to buy it cheap so I can go through the whole thing and find whats wrong!!! It's really pissing me off!!!
 
LOL! Pissing you off!? I been fighting this stupid thing for 5 years! Im hoping to get some poor sap on cl to buy the thing for $250. But what I would really like is to pull it out as a unit and keep the harness in tacked so I could put it on a test stand and keep messing with it.
 
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