Cant seem to get this distrutor stabbed for the life of me. put it on tdc plenty of times, alinghned the oil pump shaft to the distributor,have the rotor pointing to the number 8 on the distributor houseing and number 1 cyl.with the electrical connector pointing to the firewall (little towards driver side)and it still acts like its 180 off for the upteen time. It does does that grumbleing start for 3 sec then dies with a puff of smoke out of the intake. Theres now way in the world to line up the white paint mark with the indent on the lower gear shaft,lines up perfect for the v6 part though.I thought the valves on the vortec dont get that 1 hole turn like the older 350s, they get a 1/4-1/2 turn after push rod dosent twist and i went the hole turn ( wasnt thinking and was in a hurry)but dont think thats the probalem but im leaning towards it in the back of my head though. But this thing is driving me crazy though. Cant hook up the scanner to adjust cam retard to zero i have to get it up to operating temp and above 1,000 rpm (timing is computer controlled).

turn crank one full turn to tdc and try again. then do this

timing

Tryed that and after doing that the rotor dosent line up to the little number 8 on the distributor.

try asking on wheelindixie.com lots of chevy gurus there

I think in 96, GM went to a "corrected" style cap where the ports on the distributor are lined up exactly like the cylinder banks. instead of 1863742. It MIGHT not be necessary. I'll go pull my 86 vortec FSM... theyre the same..

OK My FSM Says the following.

Bring the engine up to TDC on cylinder #1, and make sure it is on the compression stroke.

Remove cap, screws, and cap to expose rotor.

Align the pre drilled indent hole in the distributor driven gear with the white painted alingment line on the lower portion of the shaft housing. The rotor segment should point to the cap hold area.

Using a long screwdriver, align the oil pump driveshaft in the engine in the mating drive tab in the distributor.

Guide the distributor into place making sure the spark plug towers are perpendicular to the center line of the engine.

ONCE THE DISTRIBUTOR IS FULLY SEATED, the rotor segment should be aligned with the pointer cast into the distributor base. This pointer will have a 6, or an 8 cast into it, indicating that the distributor is to be used in a 6 cylinder, or 8 cylinder engine. If the rotor segment does not come within a few degrees of the pointer, the gear mesh between the distributor, and the camchaft may be off a tooth or more. If this is the case, repeat the procedure again to achieve proper alignment.






SO.... There's not any adjustment in there like on the old style motors.

Yeah that link eddy sent ya too is identical to my fsm info.


AND FYI, you don't need to do any of that oilpump drive gear alignment with a screwdriver BS. Just put the distributor where it needs to be, and bump the motor over until it falls down onto the pump drive. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

These instructions should get you up and running.

Got it,turned out the valve were too tight you can't go that 1 hole turn on the vortec heads like the fsm said its a 1/4 turn after they start to tap still getting that dredded p1345 dtc yes I know what it means but I"ll check the timing again but I'm pritty sure its dead on. I'm thinking the gear on the cam is just worn down since chevys are know for this after so many miles and like a dummy I didn't replace it like I should of but what can you do but to tear apart the fron end and do it. Thanks for your guys input on the situation. The way these past couple months have gone I'm suprised I can still put my pants on the right way.