Let’s play a round of “Name that sound!”

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1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

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Suggestion...climb under your truck and listen for the noise...is it louder? Sounds like a trans noise.

Wonder what kind of a noise the distributor/cam gear would make just before it goes completely? Doesn't that sound a lot like a gear powered timing set?
The last time it made these sounds was many months ago. I can’t recall if I climbed under to listen or not. How difficult is it to unbolt the torque converter and slide it back? Is that an ok method to eliminate the trans?
 

Orpedcrow

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From the video it sounds like a dry bearing to me, could be a vacuum leak. You could try spraying a little bit of water around the rear of the intake gasket and see if it changes to a wet fart sound.

If you’re going to pull the cap and rotor off you could squirt a little wd40 on the base of the distributor shaft and see if it wicks down then see if it goes away or changes.
 

Orpedcrow

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It’s loud enough and probably the right frequency to feel it if it is the distributor. As a side note if you still have the stock plastic distributor then it’s worth replacing anyway. I bought a billet MSD knockoff from summit and it wasn’t much money. Plus it looks like a race truck now :hahano:
 

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Vortec distributors (if yours is stock) have a plastic base on them. Last time this happened to me on a 1997 s10 I had, the plastic broke off where the cap screws into the base, this allowed the rotor to contact the inside of the cap.
 

1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

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If I wanted to pull the distributor and I marked perfectly where it is and where the rotor is, can I install it back into that position and everything work? Just wondering how likely it is that it will work right.
 

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If I wanted to pull the distributor and I marked perfectly where it is and where the rotor is, can I install it back into that position and everything work? Just wondering how likely it is that it will work right.
Define "work right".

If you mean "will the engine start and run long enough for me to finish the job properly by using a scan tool to set the cam sensor-to-crank sensor synchronization" I'd say your chances were pretty good.

If you mean "will the distributor get set back in place so perfectly I can drive for thousands of miles without needing to use a scan tool to synchronize the sensor outputs" I'd say your chances are approximately zero. Part of the issue is that you don't know if the sensor signals are within spec BEFORE you yank the distributor. You could be out-of-spec now.
 
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