7.4 L29 trouble, need advice

[grampadirt]

I wonder if the roll pin holding the distributor gear on had snapped If the distributor ain't spinning neither is the oil pump.

 

[Elroy]

fortunately when the dist stops so does the motor , the cam is hard steel, the gear is supposedly some sacrificial material so hopefully everything will be ok with a new distributor

 

[Christian Steffen]

Sounds like you may be in luck. Glad to hear some good news.

 

[Elroy]

the shop called today, put in a new dist and it starts and runs, the old dist gear was worn through, they say it now has a misfire ( issue w new dist?) and a noise in the TC/flywheel/starter, they think a bolt came out or the flywheel cracked? and they dont see the oil leak that left a significant puddle under the truck, i told them to work on it another hour and see what they find

 

[someotherguy]

I'd wonder if they know how to correctly adjust the distributor; on a Vortec it takes a scan tool that can read the cam retard angle. It gets set to within +/- 2 degrees of zero, while holding RPM's to at least 1,000 for a good reading.

Also just because the distributor is new doesn't mean it's 100% good; the aftermarket caps are notoriously bad for Vortecs.

If the distributor adjustment is good, firing order is triple-checked (Vortec cap terminals are not numbered exactly in order), wires are all confirmed good, I'd recommend AC Delco or Delphi cap & rotor.

No way to have any clue what the noise is when getting second/third-hand info.

Richard

 

[Elroy]

noise turns out to be the starter, some part broke off and was rattling around in the bellhousing, they say its from trying to start it with the distributor problem, i asked about the install on the dist as i saw something like that omline, the srv mgr says the guy working on it is a 20 yr gm dealer experianced vet, so hopefully they know what they are doing

 

[someotherguy]

Starter should be inspected carefully and replaced. There aren't any non-essential pieces that can break off and it still be OK. If the housing is broken it can "walk" on the block and possibly damage the block. I've seen starter pads on the block broken, bolt holes cracked so the bolts wouldn't stay tight, etc. You don't want that.

Richard

 

[Elroy]

new dist, new starter, cleaned 1 plug, oil change to get the debris from the failed gear out, and we are now back in buisness, truck drove home this morning and felt great, they cant find an oil leak so that's still a mystery