1997 Silverado Timing

i rebuilt my motor on my truck and the check engine light is on and the code is 1345 i asked someone what to do they say set the timing and they would do it for

30 bucks! i am like no way! is there any way i could do it myself?

You can do it yourself and get it close enough to not have the light go on. You would need to get the engine at #1 TDC exactly, and then make sure that the rotor lines up with a small 8 that is stamped into the outer rim of the distributor. Looking down at the distributor, this is what you should see.

If you line the distributor up this way, the light should not come on. If it still does come on, you may have no choice but to have someone with a scan tool set it for you. I've done it manually a million times and have only had the light come on once or twice.

Ian

thanks i will try that

Sorry Shiden. This is off topic. I have a 1984 propane motor "I keep cracking the heads". I have 1 million km's on it, so I've replaced every part on it, 10 thermostats, several radiators, etc. etc. so it's not a cooling problem and it's not over heating. Propane burns a lot hotter. Anyway I've been told the 1984 heads are a little thinner around the water jackets than the older heads. I've got a line on some camel hump heads, I'm gonna try them. Anyway, to make a long story short, is it true that the 1984 heads are thinner.......thanx in advance

I don't have the answer for you about the heads....not my area of expertise. I did build up an engine years ago to run on propane and because I didn't have the propane mixture dialed in right, the valves burnt out within 20K miles or so. Maybe you have some sort of mixture problem. This is a guess, as I have zero experience with propane, other then this one attempt.

Ian

"is it true that the 1984 heads are thinner" ???

a local machinist claims that the difference between a 1969 350 head and a

1999 is 7 pounds

can't verify that

You're right about the fuel mixture. Too lean or too rich will cause this problem. Also retarded or advanced timing can also crack heads and warp valves. You also have to get hardened seats, valves, and guides, with propane. There is an overabundance of propane in Canada, not so much in the States, therefore it's a viable alternative to combat the escalating cost of gasoline prices. Anyway, don't know if you live in the States, "where I don't think they use it" but thanx anyway...

I live in Canada, and there are propane vehicles running around all over the place here. I don't think there is much of an advantage to using it, but wasn't there some sort of government subsidy for it years ago. I know it was really big in the 80's.

Ian

Yes there was.

It was really cheap in the 80's, and early 90's, but because of the free trade agreement, we have to sell it to ourselves for the same price as the Americans, therefore the price skyrocketed because of the energy shortage in California etc. They use a lot of our Natural gas which is a cousin to propane. I am told that's why it went up. I live in Vancouver, where 95% of the taxi's were on propane, and they all went back to gas about 5 years ago. So you're right, not much of an advantage now, but back in the 80's it was very cheap. 18 cents a litre. But I guess I'm stuck with it till something better comes along. Anyway I hope these camel hump heads are good. Wish me luck...

BOB

Notice how much cleaner your engine oil stays when running on propane?

Whitelightning

If that was what those owners spent over 2 grand for.....they got taken.

Ian

My father used to be plant manager at a Suburban Propane company. The biggest problem they had was burning holes in pistons. If the engine had forged pistons it wasn't a problem, but most standard gasoline engines had cast pistons. Besides extended oil change intervals because they didn't get dirty the way gas engines did, ignition parts seemed to last longer too. It was 62 miles from his house to the shop one way, six days a week. It was a dual fuel so if he ran low he could switch to gas. He said the power was about the same gas or propane, but the fuel mileage was definitely higher on gas. Staying clean might not mean much to an individual owner, but in a fleet of 30 or more averaging 30,000 miles a year, being able to extend the oil change intervals means big savings at the end of the year, in cost of oil and filters, labor, and the cost of disposing of used oil.

Whitelightning