Lets start from the beginning. I bought my truck, 1996 Z71, 5.7. It had the crankshaft/camshaft correlation code from the computer. Good deal. Figured it would be a relatively easy fix and worth the effort. I replaced the crankshaft position sensor, then did some reading and discovered that a worn distributor drive gear can give the same code. I removed the distributor and checked the gear but it looks brand new. Not a scratch on it. However, seems something moved around on me or something. I found TDC on the #1 cylinder (front driver side). Replaced the distributor making sure to line up the rotor contact with the number one cylinder position on the cap. Then started it. It ran but barely, and I do mean BARELY. Figured I had my timing 180* out and that I topped out the #1 cylinder on the exhaust stroke, so I rotated the crankshaft 1 turn, which should have been TDC on the compression stroke. I realigned the rotor button on the number 1 contact and now it won't run at all, but as it turns over you can see a visible spark, a very strong spark, shoot across the inside of the throttle body. What in the world is happening here?

 

OK, I got it fired up and running. When I rev it up to a out 1000-1200 and look at the timing, it shows an advance of about -12* so I think I need to rotate the dist a bit to get it back closer to 0. However I am using an ELM bluetooth adaptor and the Torque app for Android to see the timing advance. I guess it is accurate enough. Any thoughts?