1997 Project Jimmy *Now with Pics*

[99bonnieSE]

No I didn't mark the distributor. I have never dealt with a distributor and I found out that it should be marked after I took it all apart.

Ouch. thats pretty important to do, lol.

[00Beast]

That's why you gotta do more research before you just start tearing in.

[Wes]

live and learn. Im sure he wont take any distributor out agaoin w/o marking it. Ever!

[94SilverSSEi]

So now the truck is only getting one code. It is a cylinder 1 misfire.
Also when you rev it up real high then this black sootty stuff shoots out on the ground. And also a lot of condensation comes out of the exhuast until it is warmed up but them once hot no condensation.
The distributor I am sure has to be right on because one tooth either way and it wouldn't run at all so that goods.

So should I just try some new plugs and see what happens? Why would one that one cylinder have a misfire?

Also when you are driving and you are stopped or going very slow and you try to take off it kinda chugs like it doesn't wanna go and you just gotta give it a lot more pedal and then it just revs up and takes off but it still doesn't run right.

[94SilverSSEi]

I was getting a code on of cylinder 1 misfire. So I got a new spark plug and it ran really good at first but then it started to run crappy again. So I'm assuming the plug got fouled out again.

Has anybody had experience with non-fouling plugs? Or why is it fouling out only in the #1 cylinder?

[crash93ssei]

Pull that plug and take a good look at it. Take a pic of it and post it too, you may have some other issue with that cylinder.

When it is running, does the exhaust smell really rich?
When you are driving it, look at the exhaust. Is it black, blue, or white while driving? Black would mean running too rich, blue would mean burning oil, white would mean burning coolant. Make sure the engine is warmed up first though before looking for white steamy exhaust as they will usually look like that anyways until warmed up.

[94SilverSSEi]

The old plug I took out like it had a lot of gunk built up on it and it was kind of wet like it has oil on it but it smelled like gas not oil.

I put a new plug in and it ran good at first but then starting running bad.
So is it possible that this cylinder is getting too much gas or maybe not burning it fully? How does this happen?
Otherwise if it is oil? How is the oil getting into the combustion chamber?

I haven't really noticed it blowing any color exhaust at all. But when you rev it up at idle you can see a spot on the driveway where there is this black sooty stuff but I believe that is carbon coming out.

Any thoughts?

[Jrs3800]

I am going to guess that this is the only cylinder with this problem?


If the plug is getting fuel fouled you may have a bad poppet valve...

[94SilverSSEi]

Yes this is the only cylinder with this problem. Is there anyway to clean it or something? Or does the poppet valve have to be replaced?

[Jrs3800]

You could try some fuel system cleaner, but chances are you'll be replacing the injector/poppet or replacing the CPI unit

[94SilverSSEi]

Ok so now after running it a little bit with the new plug and pulling that out it definately has oil on it.

So we cleaned the plug and then the weirdest thing happened. Half the plug got funky and the other half got cleaner than when we put it back in.

How is the oil getting in the cylinder and why would the spark plug be cleaner on one side and dirtier on the other?

[Jrs3800]

oil in the cylinder could be tired oil control rings, broken piston ring or a bad valve stem seal... Hard to say

[Wes]

typical test to know why an engine is burning oil is when its showing blue smoke. If you see it on start up, and idle, its your valve seals. If its when you accelerate, its your piston rings.

[94SilverSSEi]

Ok. So all of the problems you mentioned can be fixed without replacing the engine?

If it was valve stem seal-Just take the head off to get it fixed?

What are the oil control rings?

How would you go about replacing a piston ring? Remove that piston from the engine and replace with new rings?

It idles terrible and then when you get on it it stumbles at first but when it's in the high RPMs or if you hold the idle higher it runs better.

And I don't really notice any smoke coming out of the tailpipe at all.

[Jrs3800]

It sounds to me like a bad poppet valve or the CPI unit