Chevy Suburban 5.7 : Crank No Start Part I

[@jenncox2642]

I love when you say "hey its that guy" when someone honks.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

One of my bosses from way back whenever someone came in he didn't know always said "There he Is!" Made them feel welcome. I do it myself sometimes.

[@FirstStreetTV]

my grandpa used to always say "oh there he is right there" and I would always fall for it and ask 'who' and he would reply "him" and just point at some random guy

[@jenncox2642]

@@FirstStreetTV - Gotta love grandpas!

[@hatfez]

'I'll be right out" is my go to phrase...

[@opl500]

I wonder how many people are aware of Avoca because of this channel

[@davidkroth]

I've come to enjoy the compressor just like brake cleaner, intro, outro and even Big Nasty. Wouldn't be SMA without it!

[@MWestern-m4g]

"hey its that guy" works at Napa notasponsor!

[@chiluco2000]

I don't think I would ever get to enjoy that compressor... Wouldn't mind seeing a Patreon setup for moving that thing outside!

[@michaelstjohn6086]

@@chiluco2000 I'm in!

[@bostedtap8399]

The compressor needs a name, what about "Mr A".

[@frotobaggins7169]

@@bostedtap8399 how about thunder. lol

[@joegior5858duck]

South main auto video the best weekend drug a mechanic can get

[@mojunk19]

I’ll drink to that!

[@LUISREY1995]

100%

[@theemooneys]

in the early 90s, I worked for the county road commission. All the Chevy fleet vehicles had to have the distributor changed out because if the vehicle idled too long the distributor would seize from the lack of oil. They had a special distributor with a spiral shaft to draw oil up to lubricate the housing.

[@crockpot5194]

Mine is a 1999 Chevy Blazer. I fully understand where you're coming from

[@lakesideranch]

Another fine production Eric! I bought a brand new '99 Suburban as a leftover in 2000. 5.7 Vortec, GMC 1500 SLE, 3rd row seat, and barn doors. Drove it till 2015, when a barn door body style collector asked if I'd sell it. We made a deal and I drove it to his shop, got out of it with 272,000 original miles. Just normal maintenance, 1 radiator, and a few water pumps. Never had any tranny problems, original aluminized exhaust under it when I sold it too. Paid 24K for it in 2000 as a leftover, had 4 miles on the clock. Don't think my new Tahoe will last 1/2 as long as that old GMC Suburban... Work safe, keep up the great videos! Doug@ the "ranch"

[@jimdandy6472]

Fun to see you working on an old 350 Chevy small block. I tore apart and rebuilt many of these in the 1980's. My friend still has a 1999 Suburban and I always like working on it, except for the Spider fuel injection and knock sensor which are under the intake manifold. The distributor gear is softer than the cam gear, so it will go first. In the old days (points or HEI) you had to drop the distributor in and get the timing close enough to start, then use a timing light to adjust the timing by turning the distributor, then tighten its hold down bolt.

[@0wn1nwc]

Theres also a wire that'll need to be unplugged while you time it in

[@nv1493]

You've been the single most influence moving me from Trynostics to Diagnostics so thanks for that. By looking at real time run data I was able to figure out 07 suburban running lean WITHOUT buying a ton of un-needed parts.

[@spyder1721]

171 and 174? Its a maf :P

[@davie261]

It's amazing how watching a knowledgeable mechanic with the patience and sense of humor you posses walk us through simple as well as complicated operations without assuming we know what's going on can be so darn relaxing. And I can't help with your style but learn stuff too lol :)

[@matthewcole9418]

I really don't know much about auto repair and because of it I don't understand what you are saying half the time, but I still love watching your videos.

[@VanquisherUSMC]

Super duper common. I've replaced dozens and dozens of them over the years. Because the cam and drive gear are a much harder steel, the drive gear usually suffers zero damage. The biggest potential issue is that all that metal that's ground off goes through the rest of the motor potentially shortening the life of bearings in the motor. I've never had one come back for a blown motor though. Those cast iron 350s are tough as nails motors for the most part!

[@BoerGuy]

Part owner and mechanic of a small two bay, one lift (in the floor hydraulic) worked about 18 months. Love the sound of the compressor coming on, reminds me of the time there every time I hear it.

[@linkassasin450]

Happened to us once on a motorhome with a 454. Quick and right diag. thanks for the vid !

[@garyoldham4449]

2000 Chevy Express 3500 7.4 454. I'm in the middle of this right now. Motorhome w/454 engine, hard start situation devolved into a no start situation. No start situation has now devolved into no start with the occasional grinding sound. Since I bought, hard start. Once started it would stay running. Now it's worse to the point where it won't quite start but it's trying. And now I sometimes hear grinding. Starter? Maybe it's the distributor! I need to test fuel pressure. But something tells me I will probably end up putting a new distributor in it. And hopefully the starter is not damaged. When it's time to move but your house won't start.

[@billyyoder8171]

Whoa we're half way there, whoa Eric O, livin on spark plugs and on a prayer. Sounds like the 80's. Thank you Eric. Good job. I appreciate your videos. Have a blessed and safe week.

[@DaveSender66]

"Plugs n a prayer" , "Trynogistics " 🤣😂😆. Love it I've been laughing about this all day long!!!!

[@leepennington4649]

Plugs and a prayer🤣🤣🤣

[@cjkent3300]

Right...how many people you know have done that?

[@robertrichardson1133]

Oh my goodness, a minute and 4 seconds in and you already have me laughing. Tryagnostics got me busting a gut. You my friend are a true comedic technician and a great one at that. Cant stop watching your videos.

[@ET_Don]

Definitely qualifies as excessive backlash on the distributor! I haven't heard "Tryignostics" in a long time. I actually laughed out loud. Thanks for another great video.

[@stephenpeterson7309]

I spent 20 years in the car repair business, mostly GM dealers and as I watch, it like you're reading my mind. I'll say to myself " well I'd check" and there you are reading my mind. Good videos.

[@Bloodthune]

Tryignostics! Love it!

[@thedogbarber]

The only tool used in the fine science of Tryagnostics is the parts cannon. A formidable weapon indeed.

[@randywilcox4112]

00

[@brettwalkom948]

She didn't work this time.. Must have shot himself in the foot

[@Mr42960]

I have had a brand new Napa "corrected" distributor cap cross fire within itself and cause an idle miss. When they arrange the caps to have the wire sockets in order on each side of the cap they do it by bending and crossing over copper wire molded in the cap plastic. If the copper wires were not nested correctly they get too close together and jump spark.

[@TD-ue3bb]

Thank you so much Eric! The same exact thing happened on my truck when I was 700 miles away from my home while I was on a road trip. Because of your videos, I was able to replace distributor myself on the parking lot of a local repair shop (they were busy and let me work on my truck).

[@ScienceOfDiagnostics]

It's all about the routine, gets you to the right place damn quick. Another great video.

[@ChrisGrazioli]

Boffa deez nutz.... youre friggin killin me dude

[@Tek_Nician]

Has me rolling in my bed at 11pm!!

[@flbartlett]

"Try-agnostics"! A new word for my lexicon! Thanks Eric!

[@super20dan]

so glad to be done with this old GM desighn , never going back -a pain to work on . the starter with shims and the rear mounted distributor . LS baby from now on

[@nightmarecivic]

You're personality and can do spirit is awesome man. Reminds me of my best friend who passed this last October. Always the laugh it off way when working on cars. Cheers

[@leswalker2639]

I appreciate your videos they are interesting. Great information not only that you have a professional attitude. Clean language and you do not throw Tools around when something happens. You stay focused and accomplish the job

[@tedmattingly7564]

I called it from the start LOL. I had the exact thing happen to my 97 GMC w/ 5.7 Stripped the gear clean off. It had a bronze gear and sent crap through everything. I dropped the pan and checked bearings and got lucky. Replaced the distributor and ran it for a few years more before I upgraded.

[@johnripp6286]

Love the videos inspired me to do more work on my own vehicles and on saved my boss thousands on the farm trucks

[@samcooke2742]

No auto mechanic I've seen does more to produce a quality video than Eric O. He's in a class by himself.

[@markquigley7839]

Great video as always. I'd miss my wedding if you posted one at that time.

[@arniesand]

I read your comment to my wife and told her, "and you get mad because I ignore you while watching a SMA video." Anyway, thanks for a great laugh!

[@kinglangren]

My sons gmc 1500 broke down last week. Turned out to be his rotor cap had come off - stripped screw. Definitely helped me diagnose it from watching your videos. Thanks

[@thirdcargarage2951]

I put on my SMA hoodie. Grab an ice cream and watch the diags. Love this channel. Your the best.

[@colinpalmer5564]

great video eric..your train of thought and diagnostic ability is priceless.As usual greatly appreciated.

[@opl500]

Been a long time since I've seen an old school distributor. This is like car archaeology.

[@vincescalise4821]

Carchaeology

[@stevenvanheel3932]

Dodge put distributors in their trucks up until 2002

[@alexdashevsky2180]

Eric you are great mechanic. Cheers from Brooklyn.

[@danekeeper1]

"TRIAGNOSTCS"....I am going to put that in my tool box from now on!!!

[@williegillie5712]

I think triagnostics is similar to the parts cannon

[@MrBlaser51]

Hey Eric, Quit worrying about the compressor. to me it gives authentic character!!! Got to love it!!

[@alanmatthews5949]

It’s the new Chevy Variable Distributor Timing. VDT. It changes your distributor timing till the truck won’t start. Nice non flow chart diagnosis. I like how you jump right to the problem and not to the flow charts.

[@unclechaz8426]

GM had this problem way back in the 80's . I started my automotive career in 1977.

[@Conqueef-tadoor]

10:55 is the absolute funniest thing I've heard Eric say in quite some time. 😂😂😂😂

[@Dcthetruth85]

Yessir 🤣

[@outdamudd96]

I died 😆

[@danielc3777]

Beast. My favorite channels?.as a tech in htown love the way you diag most the time. You have allldata Your brain. Wish I could work for you. Love the positive attitude..... Wait till our hybrids hit you

[@d.a.2742]

I'm so glad my bore scope has a built in light ...saves me the two handed dance .

[@paulhunt598]

Years ago after repeatedly replacing a sheared distributor gear key on a Ford straight 6, I concluded that it had to be a failing oil pump. I could determine no other symptom, and the pump seemed to be the only possible cause. Thanks for stressing the need to validate oil pump condition/performance before concluding this was only distributor failure. Sometimes tryagnostics seem to be the only option, but as technicians we should diagnosis to absolute certainty, sometimes for our own egos.

[@deanvandress4693]

Good video. Looks like a nice diagnostic process. Nice job. Thanks for posting it. It's helpful.

[@JOHNPHUFNAGEL]

That's old school variable timing

[@df4480]

Priceless, all my family members drive Chevy vortex vehicle. I have 3 in the drive way. Thanks!

[@researchandbuild1751]

Ive been waiting 50 videos for some borescope action. Love it!

[@alanmatthews5949]

Compared to my Snapon BK8000 it a toy.

[@williamwhite9767]

Worked on Chevy small blocks at lot during my misspent youth. I cut the handle off a screwdriver and put it in a drill to turn the oil pump to pump up the oil system.

[@orville58]

Wow I would never get it back in time those distributors are crazy can’t wait for part two thanks

[@petercook3143]

You havent seen one in NYS cause they rotted out about 15 years ago. We are still running them in the south, I have 4 of them presently with one, southern one, sitting in Middleport NY cause i was traveling and flew out. Now its getting the same way with the Mid 2000-2012 trucks, full of holes in New York. great channel thanks for your help.

[@mikemccarthy9800]

I'm tackling this today and I've been a little stumped and now I think I'm having the same problem also. Pretty sloppy rotor so I'm gonna pull the distributor out and replace it then see what happens. Great video . I'll update you later on and share the outcome of it all . Thanks a bunch.

[@cmarshall2211]

Man this brings back memories. Had the same thing happen on a Toyota Camry that I owned ages ago. New distributor (which was rediculously expensive!) and away I went. Learned a lot working on that car which was poorly maintained by the previous owner.

[@arthurfricchione8119]

Good video Eric. Brings me back to the good old days . The old distributer. Have a good one ❤️

[@rontesh6244]

Hi from San Antonio TX, I enjoy all the videos, thanks for the shearing. Your a good mechanic

[@moi28642864]

You are mastering this youtube talk, aren’t you?

[@wyattoneable]

Oh cool, an engine I am familiar with. I've had my share of 5.7 issues (mainly the intake gaskets failing, twice) but the set of Fel-Pro gaskets I installed should do the trick. (thank you for the tip) This one is new to me so naturally I find this very interesting.

[@LycanWitch]

going to have to start a donate towards the build a soundproof box around the air compressor fund.

[@mikerath3437]

Love your channel! I've learned a lot from you, your advice, knowledge, diag, it all. You are the man! Man

[@Gray-Wolf-Media]

Oh that reminds me of an old ford that wouldn't crank over that was sitting at the Blue Beacon Truck wash in Knoxville TN. The guy couldn't get it cranked and I didn't have anything to test it so I went to the distributer cap and removed it. Had a ton of moisture under the cap. Took some paper towels and dried it out and the button as well, popped it back together and it fired right up.

[@dougkubash8673]

The bushings also wear out on that style distributor. Then the rotor bangs in to the cap. Enjoyed the video!

[@joeengelhardt336]

I love your channel I like how you explain what your doing when working on the vehicles

[@richardbambenek2601]

Tryagnostics!!!!! Love it. I'm going to use that one.

[@jounatherton7294]

That was a brilliant video. Not even college will teach you this stuff it all thorey . I must admit you said the starter motor was removed becouse of full beans and destroyed it , so the coil goes in hand and cogs on a coil. not many ppl know about the coil and it workings take many books. lesson learnt, when a starter goes, can be coil related and cogs. thank you regards john UK London

[@robburnett8434]

I use that exact same Mac Starter button. I love it. Most useful tool i bought for doing starter system diag on semi trucks.

[@jameseddy6787]

My 99 Tahoe couldn't get cam/crankshaft offset to spec. Dist. gear was worn. New gear and reset dist. Ran like new.

[@nickwooo1]

If it helps anyone I had spark still from the plugs. Crank no start issue. Ended up being the distributor this was a good video

[@rodpalm6398]

I have a 5.7 in my 96 Silverado 2500 4x4 so now I have to watch this.

[@naokimatsushima4979]

I've worked on many 5.7s. 1st., distributers are junk, wears out easy. 2, I've seen rear cam bearing spin. 3, under serviced vehicles. Its a good engine when taken care of.

[@davidwaskiewicz3289]

Changed a ton of those things, I always use the aluminum replacements so the ears don’t break off.

[@erre611]

Hell yeah bro learning off you like no other appreciate the the knowledge I for sure will be a follower

[@JonathanCarl]

Just realised your shop is 30 minutes away, I might be stopping by for some work soon

[@alanhester9984]

I have a Chev 4.3 V6 in my boat and at 80 hours since new the same thing happened with the distributor drive gear. Inspected everything like you did but since the whole engine had such low time I just replaced the gear and put it back in. Now I have over 300 hours on the engine and so far no problems yet. Still would like to know why the original gear failed to start with.

[@melindaortiz9741]

Good question

[@Newman81964]

One car I had years back had a high performance 327 motor in it and I put an aluminum distributor in it when it was being built. It started ok, but then died after about 1 minute. Upon checking, I found that the distributor shaft broke the whole way around. I ended going back to a cast one and never had a problem with it after that.

[@dougtexas]

Same engine in my '97 GMC K1500. Might be bits and pieces at oil pump, cam, pan. Quick check for shiny oil. Someone may have jammed the distributer and broke the teeth, or didn't compensate for the mesh/rotation if it was pulled then reinstalled. When my oil pump drive went, it chewed up the teeth on the distributer and had to replace distributer also.

[@troyknowles2211]

Hey Eric, ran into same issue on a Ford Aerostar a couple of years ago. Put new distributor in, and my father in law still driving it to this day.

[@corymcdermott5096]

One of the main problems with the "Shivy" small blocks. That, and the damn pick up coils in the distributors, working as the cam sensor. Leaves a lot of shade tree guys scratching their heads. Also seen the reman distributors fail easily, from the gear being shaved in the reman process.

[@VoltageDropDiagnostics]

Great video, Eric! I can’t wait for part 2

[@freetolook3727]

You've come a long ways from Dr. O to Erik O to "Self Made" auto.

[@waltermaxner4005]

Hey there Mr. O. Walter here. I have a 99 Tahoe with 430,000 and the same 5.7 Vortec in it. Im working on mine right now do intake gaskets and maybe head gaskets. I know if the distributor is not on the oil pump shaft and sitting all the way down, that will strip the heck out of the gears on one. Anywho, I would love to see more videos on the 5.7s and the older Tahoes. As always hey to Mrs. O and the kids from me and Mrs. M.

[@researchandbuild1751]

27th. Love your videos, SMA. Learning lots. Haha love the term "tryagnostics". SMA have you ever seen a car with fuel injection and no schrader valve? I helped a guy in a store parking lot once his truck was broke down and he said he thought it was the fuel pump. I said well lets push the schrader valve see if anything comes out but i could not find one on the fuel line anywhere! I think it was some old chevy truck if i remember

[@southjerseysound7340]

What year/make was it, sometimes theyre in strange places.

[@rwbishop]

Lots of cars don't have one... saves .07¢ per car.

[@researchandbuild1751]

@@southjerseysound7340 i dont think i can remember unfortunately. Probably a 2000 or so

[@researchandbuild1751]

@@southjerseysound7340 i know it had throttle body injection so i just had him crank it while watching the injectors and i didnt see any fuel. I think he sprayed some starter fluid and it ran so he was right it was fuel pump. I just thougnt it was weird that it didnt have a schrader

[@Blazer02LS]

Lots of them out there without a schrader valve.

[@TheWoodman064]

Trmendous diagnostics! Great work!

[@michaellitscher9456]

I'm jealous of that "Topside Creeper" having prostrated myself on too many engines.

[@CoolAirVw]

Title says part 1! Meaning its a cliff hangar! Cant wait for part 2.

[@Mike-zd9qz]

Very Common on 4.3 and 5.7's. On my buddies 2000 Chevy it set the crank/cam correlation code, but it still had teeth on the distributor. In order to pass emissions without any codes we had to CNC out a new hold down with a slot for the hold down bolt. We were able to use Torque Pro to adjust.(PID 221301, Min-100, Max 100, Units Degrees,((Signed (A)*256)+B)*0.024,OBD Header Auto)

[@SmittySmithsonite]

Sweet! A distributor finally! Sadly it's a modern distributor - one of the last ones built. Cheapout central. The ones from the 80's back spun for 400k miles (with regular oil changes), and rarely peeled the teeth off. Same exact engine in my buddy's '96 Tahoe. It cranked over the exact same way. Long story short, ended up being the engine computer. That turned into a debacle itself. Got one from a boneyard. Guy looked me in the eye and told me it came right out of another V8 Tahoe. The fact that it didn't cost my buddy about $1k out of the parts cannon, trying to get this thing to hit on all 8! Had a double-dead miss. At the time, I wasn't savvy enough to check for injector pulse. Wasn't until YEARS later, when I bought my Autel, that I got in the ECU, ran the VIN, and found out it was from a '96 S10 Blazer!!! GRRR! Went on eBay, and $100 later, we had an engine computer, VIN programmed for us, that was plug and play. After 10 seconds of misfiring (which made me super nervous), she smoothed right out and hit on all 8 for the first time in 5 years! This was the vehicle that got me motivated to scour KZbin for OBD-II info. I found ETCG, then found you, Paul Danner, Ivan, and Keith - the rest is history! :) Nice FAST diag, brother! 👍👍

[@donaldwantola5800]

I've done a bunch of 4.3 V6s with this problem in my shop, never had a V8 that bad. The cam and distributor gears are dissimilar metals the cam is hard billet steel the distributor gear is soft castiron and eventually wears out around the 200K mark.

[@brianmeek5236]

Just put one in a 98 burb, so glad I had purchased a topside creeper,without that I would need back surgery too

[@michaelb4060]

After seeing your cheap USB scope in an older video I bought a Depstech on the Amazon. They have a few types including wireless to your phone or laptop. The 5m wireless for Apple I bought was $36. It has a semi-rigid lead so you don't need to tape it to a pick and it has adjustable light intensity. As a test I put a roll of paper towels on some junk mail and blocked the light at the top of the roll. With the camera light on full intensity I could see the details of the cardboard core and read the junk mail text clearly.

[@brianw4brian]

Frankly eric. I saw one of the cam teeth looked worn slightly. I recommend check the oil for metal shavings. That metal went somewhere or that was a distributor change with or without owners knowledge. Or it's a bureau auto repair car. I haven't a clue but like that customer with coil packs awhile ago. Crank no start without the wires inside coil boot to put the spark into the spark plug the customer claimed he did his own repairs left parts in the back of SUV. Your great. 1999 is a good Chevy.

[@nickmckenzie8034]

I remember when I was young and built my sbc with my dad he showed me to pull apart my old distributor and take shaft and chuck it up in the drill so I could prime the oil pump. I feel like that could have been a good test for the oil pump in this case. Just my 2 cents lol

[@Garth2011]

good way to confirm oil pressure too. He was just looking to see if it was free or bound up.

[@drfalcon4102]

It was a common problem, replaced 4 or 5 myself

[@mikeeustice4452]

Seen that to many times replace with a aluminum unit and it wont do that. The plastic ones deflect from the load of the oil pump and causes a gear alingment problem. It's good they made the cam gear twice as hard

[@benkanobe7500]

The priming tool for SBC works (dam it! You mention it just as I was typing!)

[@19815389]

Eric you can change the gear on that distributor ,now there is metal in the oil from the gear being chewed up

[@ryerob741]

yes as mentioned above, roasted distributor gears leads to plugged oil pump screen/tube which in my case led to no oil flow in running/hot 454 which led to purchase of new long block and replacement of every, and I mean every module, sensor/timing cover/oil pan/intake/exhaust/valve cover gaskets, not to mention if your there, may as well replace egr and tube, fuel pressure regulator, don't re-use old fuel injectors! water pump, hoses, belts, ..... power steering pump will fail just as you get the whole new engine strapped up to the trans, just because you own the heavy truck "GM Hydro-boost" brake system!.......on and on and on until you have a new truck one way or the other...............LOL

[@ryerob741]

and one last thing, if this is caught early enough not to cause catastrophic engine failure, there should be a whole sale inspection of the oil/oil pump/cam bearings/lobes and associated bushings and journals, cuz that trash will move thru entire engine! just sayin......

[@baggins1]

Glad to see someone using the ebay bore scope. I need to get one.

[@KPearce57]

Got a 94 with 307683 miles on the 350 motor no internal problems ac, water pump alternator pvc EGR radiator no rust Texas Truck, does need new seat maybe someday.

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

Yep replaced a few distributors like that the bushings were shot in the distributor and it ate the gear. Replaced the distributor, changed the oil & filter and customers never had a problem with it but I told them the metal that was floating around could have caused engine damage especially to the crankshaft & bearings but they didn't want to spend the $$. Obviously it was a good call for them and they'd remind me every time they brought it in it was still running great 😎

[@dieselchevette]

As a gm/Chevy guy, I can say that yes, this is a common problem. Did one on my 97 4.3 k1500 a week after I picked out up. P300 from it.

[@pyro323]

Tryagnostics...I love it, and the parts cannon that they fired at the poor ol' Chevy. Can't wait for part II.