1994 Chevrolet Caprice out of time

Tiny
JOHN SWARTZ
  • MEMBER
  • 1994 CHEVROLET CAPRICE
  • 5.7L
  • V8
  • RWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 132,540 MILES
My caprice classic has a lt1 engine. It ran without waterpump and crank pulley on. I put the waterpump airpump fan and belts back on, now it will not start. Motor spins backwards when key is released. Is it out of time and if it is how do I get it back in time? Can you help?
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015 AT 3:18 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Check to see if you get spark and fuel. Should be 41-47 psi check fuses in under hood fuse box.
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Wednesday, January 7th, 2015 AT 4:05 PM
Tiny
JOHN SWARTZ
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
I have fuel and the fuses are good. It acts like it is out of time. It does not backfire like a bang, but it does puff. If it is out of time, do I have to take optispark off and get number 1 cyclinder tdc, or what?
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Wednesday, January 7th, 2015 AT 4:33 PM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
To check for being in time pull the #1plug lh front and being up to compression with mark on balancer as close to zero as possible then pull dist cap and see if rotor is pointing to about 11:30 or #1 cyl. If it is then crank engine and watch rotor. A lot of times with abad chain it won't move smoothly but kind of a jerky motion. With mileage on your motor, I forget whether they had a nylon cam gear or not but if it is it probably jumped a tooth. YOu might try moving dist to see if it will start it may but will run crappy
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Thursday, January 8th, 2015 AT 6:13 AM
Tiny
JOHN SWARTZ
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi. Thanks for the advise but this motor doesn't have that kind of dist. It has an optispark for a dist. It mounts underneath the waterpump. It is pin drive. There are 3 slots on the back. One slot is like a keyway, that is where the pin fits into. There isn't any timing marks on the crank pulley at all. That's way I am puzzled about how to check timing.
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Thursday, January 8th, 2015 AT 11:21 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
I kinda thought it was that engine, book gave me the wrong info. Those opti spark are a real pain and can fail at any time. Scan for codes cross A & B at aldl turn key on and watch light count flashes for codes. 1 then 2 means 12 etc. 12 is normal. I wouldn't put to much in engine going backwards after it quits turning over. Are you sure you have spark and good fuel pressure like I gave earlier? The opti spark is very hard to diagnose and it may be that that is thinking it's out of time. Besides there should be a shaft that the water pump is driven from unless it, s no good as those use a powdered metal gear which can fail above 5800 rpm. And that can cause all sorts of damage.
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Thursday, January 8th, 2015 AT 12:13 PM
Tiny
JOHN SWARTZ
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Thanks. I'll have to check again for spark and fuel pressure after work. I put my obd on the car. It gave me 7 differrent codes. Maybe if I disconect battery terminal it will reset the pcm. I sent the pcm in for repairs. I have replaced the optispark, icm, coil and pcm.I've also had to replace all of the connectors for optispark, icm, and coil. Is it true that there is no timing settings for the engine because the timing is controled by the pcm? I, ve been beating my head off the wall for 18 months.I'm not a mechanic, also I have replaced sparkplugs and wires.
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Thursday, January 8th, 2015 AT 6:35 PM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
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To tell the truth I forgot about timing as pcm does control that. Opti spark is kind of a screwy system anyhow. Been so damn long since I've seen one of those. I f you disconnect battery all codes will go away then you are blind trying to fix it. As it's obd1
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Friday, January 9th, 2015 AT 7:09 AM
Tiny
JOHN SWARTZ
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Well I have spark and fuel. The engine keeps flooding out. Took plugs out and dried them out, put them back in tried to start, tried to start then quit. You can smell fuel big time. What do tou think?
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Saturday, January 10th, 2015 AT 6:10 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
In my very first reply I said to check the fuel pressure I gve you the specs for it. If you don't check with a gauge then the finger test doesn't mean crap that you have fuel pressure. Too much or too little will cause problems.
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Saturday, January 10th, 2015 AT 6:59 AM

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