I have to respectfully disagree with you. I have had v-8s run on one bank. And run surprisingly well. In fact, years ago they used to take Ford small block v-8s and modify one cylinder head to be an air compressor and leave the other side as an engine. So you had a 4 cylinder, gas air compressor. They used to mount them on tire service trucks. They actually worked quite well.
stalled when trying to restart starts cranking normal then acts as if timing way advanced
- Thread starter 54vicky
- Start date
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I think you are on the right track.
I had a similar problem on a ‘94 Vortec 4.3. It turned out that it wasn’t really the spider, but rather the fuel line that supplies the spider popped off. Dumping raw fuel into the motor. It hydrolocked to the point that I cracked the nose of the starter trying to crank it. Ended up replacing the starter, draining the fuel contaminated oil and filter, and replacing the “nut kit” that supplies the spider with fuel. It was fine after that. These engines are amazingly stout. I wouldn’t worry about doing any damage. Just be VERY careful with that fuel spray and stray spark in the engine compartment. You can have a fireball in no time.
54vicky
OBS Enthusiast
no one knows the CR I take it?pissing down rain has been all day so I can wait on it
Honestly, I wouldn’t even worry about it. Like I said, mine was locked so bad that I busted the starter trying to turn it over. I just dumped the fuel out of it, fixed the problem, and it ran fine for years after that with no issues.
cngodfather
I'm Awesome
I am going to venture to guess that you have more than one problem with this engine. If memory serves correct , if you have at least 150 psi you are ok. You may in fact have a fuel problem, but the point that you made that it turns over fine with the coil disconnected -definitely points to timing/ignition/sensor problem. It is unfortunate that you don't live closer, you could give me a case of beer and we would get this girl dancin'.
54vicky
OBS Enthusiast
the reason I ask is I have some over 150 (2)the rest are 190 too 195.the 2 with low reading are the one (3)with the carbon build up the other (5)the porcelain broke while trying to remove plug was so tight had to use a 3' 1/2'' breaker bar. bear in mind they were only in for 2 months and this one was not a problem putting in with usual 3/8 ratchet and plug socket.the high reading are on the side also with no fuel leaking out when cranking to find compression.if you have ever seen a rod that hydraulic ed you would understand my concern you would find it hard to believe simply cranking can cause a rod to bend like the ones I have seen.
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east302
I'm Awesome
Compression ratio is 9.4:1
Minimum pressure is 100-psi with no cylinder being lower than 70% of highest one. Here is the page from a 98 service manual...
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54vicky
OBS Enthusiast
again you come to my aid.I was hoping for an ideal pressure number (eg 185-195) I know about the split difference.surprised at100 being acceptable as the low.
now to find why the left bank appears to have been flooded while the right seemed to be dry.I miss my PDF manual at times like this again thank you
east302
I'm Awesome
The 88-95 and 98 year manuals have been scanned here...
https://www.gmt400.com/threads/88-95-service-manuals.43575/
https://www.gmt400.com/threads/88-95-service-manuals.43575/
HotWheelsBurban
Gotta have 4 doors..... Rawhide, TOTY 2023!
Yes you don't want to have it firing wrong on startup. You will bust the starter, this happened on my truck (maybe why previous owner sold it? ).The cap was corroded inside and it was trying to fire 2 cylinders at once and it destroyed the starter. New cap & rotor fixed that, started great until the Passlock started f-ing up. Good luck with your truck, please post what finally happened and fixed it so the rest of us with middle aged 400 vortec 's will know what to look at if ours do what yours has been....I appreciate your posting the manual portion pertaining to ignition.as to the fuel pressure that would probably make it crank without starting but my problem is the cranking dragging down with coil(spark)plugged in unplug and it resumes cranking at normal rate plug in coil and it almost immediately it drags down again.as I have stated before it seems as if the timing is advanced to much.but I have double and triple checked TDC pulled TC cover to make sure the damper had not spun also the chain had not jumped I realize some would not remove TC cover but doing so proved the chain was not the problem.checking the spark at each cylinder is impossible until I can get it to crank without dragging down when it kicks the starter out it does so violently afraid it will break the nose off starter or worse.at least you understood what I wrote so reading is not a lost art
