Tahoe & Suburban The power, space, and brutal towing ability make the Tahoe and its longer sibling, the Suburban, arguably the best full size SUV's on the market today.

2013 Chevrolet Suburban
Platform: GMT 400, 800, 900

She died......

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Old May 21st, 2011 | 7:26 PM
  #1  
burbinman's Avatar
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Default She died......

She died on the freeway..

1986 suburban
4x4, 5.7/th400
carburetor

Man oh man....

I was driving down the freeway going 70 mph and all the sudden it died... threw it in neutral and started it again and all it did was let out a huge backfire.... got it towed home at 1 AM....

In the last six months i did a full tune up (cap, rotor, plugs, coil, wires, fuel filter, etc, etc)...

I've been messing with it all day today, but all i can get it to fire briefly, then sputter out, all the while slightly backfiring and coughing out the carburetor...

I am sure fuel is pumping, but need someone to help me confirm the spark, but being that it keeps starting and backfiring, i would assume that the spark is fine....

I noticed today that the muffler blew it top off when it backfired on the freeway! I've never seen that before! That musta been a hard backfire!

I would guess that the timing chain advanced..... what would you guys think???


Any idea fellas????
Old May 21st, 2011 | 9:50 PM
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Welcome to the forum.

Before I read the rest of your post, timing chain was the first thing I thought of. But I think if it slipped a couple of teeth, it would retard timing. Which could actually cause ignition as the exhaust valve is opening.
Old May 22nd, 2011 | 2:31 PM
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all right fellas! I got the timing cover off and set everything to TDC, but the rotor in the damn distributor is pointing at cylinder FIVE, not ONE.

So, the timing chain and gear/sprocket all look solid with little play at all, and no teeth are missing... I am guessing that I should pull the distributor out and check the gear on the end of it....


Well, I guess the first question should be: How much play should there be on the timing chain?


What would you fellas recommend?

Last edited by burbinman; May 22nd, 2011 at 2:43 PM.
Old May 22nd, 2011 | 6:11 PM
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Timing chain should be tite. So you're saying that the punch marks on the crank gear and the cam gear line up? I suspect the chain has jumped several teeth unless you find something wrong w/ the dist. gear.
Old May 30th, 2011 | 1:18 PM
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Well, i finally found the time to work on the truck again. LOTS of work = NO TIME to play with truck.

So. this is what i found. The timing marks are lined up 12 o'clock (cam) and 12 o'clock (crank). This is a DTC piston #1. Is this right? I heard that this should be 6 and 12 as opposed to 12 and 12.

Last edited by burbinman; May 30th, 2011 at 1:32 PM.
Old May 30th, 2011 | 7:54 PM
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Originally Posted by 73shark
Timing chain should be tite. So you're saying that the punch marks on the crank gear and the cam gear line up? I suspect the chain has jumped several teeth unless you find something wrong w/ the dist. gear.
I did not find anything wrong with the dist. gear, but shouldn't i be at DTC on cyl 1 when the timing marks are lined up?? The only time I find TDC on cyl 1 is when the timing marks are both at the 12 o'clock position.

Is this normal?
Old May 31st, 2011 | 7:47 AM
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should be 12 and 12,and the cam dowel pin at 9 o'clock position


Sean

97 4x4 burb
Old May 31st, 2011 | 10:56 PM
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I thought the cam gear should be at 6:00 and crank gear at 12:00 or IOW pointing at each other.

Bottom line is that when #1 is at TDC, both valves should be closed.

And yes, you need to do a compression check or pull the valve covers to ensure no bent valves.
Old May 31st, 2011 | 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 73shark
I thought the cam gear should be at 6:00 and crank gear at 12:00 or IOW pointing at each other.

Bottom line is that when #1 is at TDC, both valves should be closed.

And yes, you need to do a compression check or pull the valve covers to ensure no bent valves.
I too believe that they are supposed to point at each other, that is how you know its lined up...
Old June 1st, 2011 | 4:56 PM
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Unless you have a 2 cycle engine, #1 needs to be at TDC on the compression stroke and not on the exhaust stroke.
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