Champ_Az

Hey guys and gals,

I'm sorry if this is the wrong area; I'm new to this forum, but I thought I would let everybody in on a little problem I had.

Problem started when I found water in my oil. Talked to a mechanic that owns five or six chevy trucks, and he suggested that it would be my intake manifold gasket. Good guess, cause that's what it was.

So, got all the gaskets and my wrenches together and started work. First of all let me say, MARK YOUR DISTRIBUTOR! That puppy has to go back in EXACTLY how it was in there before. After taking everything apart and cleaning parts, I replaced my gaskets. Put everything back together (I'm in to it for about two weeks now), and wouldn't start. I tried, tried, and tried again to get the distributor back in correctly, and all but failed (or so I thought). Anyway, after messing with it for about another week, I sent it to the mechanic to get er' right. He "put the distributor" back in correctly, I think now that I had it right, as my rotor was aligned with the "8" on the distributor housing. He turned it over and it wouldn't start. Seems that the crankshaft sensor was the problem. After replacing that and spending $270 (bull crap) he got it to start but still was VERY sluggish. So, I didn't have the money to have someone else fix it, so it was up to me.

Long story short. I called and looked on the internet for days, and only found one good hint from a mechanic at the dealership here in my hometown. The issue is with the fuel injectors. Apparently with the 8th digit of the VIN being "R" there was an issue with these fuel injectors on these particular motors. He said after replacing the intake manifold gasket on at least 5-6 of these "R" motors he's had to (at the very least) clean the injectors after. I couldn't really see why that would be an issue as the truck ran fine before the removal/installation of my intake manifold gasket. It turns out he was correct. I went the route of buying all new injectors (as my truck has about 144,000 miles on it). Put the new ones in, and first turn fired right up again.

So, if your having a similar problem, I hope you get to read this, and get some help from it.

Thanks,
Champ

legolas894

I've got the same thing coming. Engine wouldn't run (it would turn over but not fire). Thought I had bad fuel. Changed fuel filter-was plugged a little. No difference. No "Service Engine Soon" light on either. Had it towed to my favourite garage. Mechanic checks fuel pressure-right in normal range. He thinks it's not getting spark. Changes distributor cap-All is well. He calls me to tell me that he noticed the coolant was low (I had just added some a few weeks ago). He can see the coolant leaking out the intake manifold but still outside of the engine. He shows me a Jimmy in the garage where he's just changed the manifold. He says it's an $800 job to do it but I can get by a few months as long as the coolant doesn't show up in the oil.

Is this a hard repair for a novice? I've done brakes, alternators, wheel cylinders, bearings etc. Is it a big job?

Champ_Az

Not too bad. You've got to take off a lot of wiring crap. That's the biggest pain in the ***. Other than that, it's not too bad. Just make sure you mark that distributor, and rotor, REALLY good, so that you can put it back EXACTLY where you found it. Took me a while to do it just because I only worked on it a few hours at a time.