Thats what i was thinking this morning as panic set in....

I got out around 11 am, when it warmed up. I go out to the garage, crank er up...vroommm, perfect, wow she started, and held the idle perfect even at this cold temp, which I have battling with for a few weeks.

Wow, this is great I thought, I hope it lasts! How nicce not to worry about my silly idle anymore, but then.....

kerplunk...a little shudder, and silence......

Panic, horror, DISGUST!!!! OH MY GOD IT BLEW UP!!!

I didnt even rev it, I left it idling without touching the pedal, it was just idling along and poof.

I was already holding my head low, thinking how much it was going to cost to put in a 415 stroked bottom.....I cranked it again, figuring its already done, what the heck?

It turns fine.......oil pressure good.......no noise........??????
Seems to catch miss make a sound then want to stop turning......hmmmm

I checked everything, all the sensor leads, plug wires, TB, linkage, hoses, current, alarm...all seems ok.

One last hope.......

I pull the distributor cap to check the rotor and ........

Wala!!!!!

Happy Happy Joy joy!!! Elation, jubilation, aw shucks, guess I wont be building that 415!

Both rotor screws came loose, rotor was off, it took a little meat off the bottom of the rotor, but its okay, now I am cleaning the little shards of plastic that are in the bottom of the dist, and trying to account for the second rotor screw....I need my telescopic magnet to do some fishing under there....

Gonna get it all together, and crank er up, hopefully that could have been part of my erratic idle problem.

My heart is gonna be okay......I think!

 

Gus good hear it was just something simple... but hate that you are not getting your 415.... :jester

Jay

 

Thank goodness.......this is one of the very few I've read where the outcome was not a calamity. :cheers:

 

Yikes!!!

Glad it was nothing serious. Just for reference....the rotor came loose on my 383 TWICE!! That was with the old distributor. Be sure to use steel screws and a dab of loctite to prevent it from happening.

You had me going there for a minute. :eek:

 

BTW, all you guys out there, DO NOT TOUCH those little black vacuum hoses that are all over the cars engines during this extreme cold weather!!!!

Dont even look at them to hard!

I have been patching and slicing with aquarium hose for an hour!!!!!

Thanks guys!

 

Aren't you in Miami? Isn't it like 56 degrees there? I wouldn't call that extreme cold. If your hoses are breaking at that temp you should replace them.

 

:iagree: hahah Extreme cold.... pshhh..... try 7* for the last 3 days! (not including wind chill)

But, Good thing if was something easy cheap to fix

 

What kind of rotor were you using? The hypertech one w/nylon screws?

 

Dude, it was high 20s last night and low 30s this morning when I was working on it. This car and this owner consider it COLD!!!

It was a hypertech rotor, with the factory metal screws, I saw those nylon screws in the Hypertech box, and tossed them instantly!

 

same here......hit 3 last night.....god i hate winter

 

Yea, the rotors on the GM HEI distributors are notorious for working loose. I used to check it all the time on my 88 L98 . . . it wasn't fun because the TPI and the firewall made for a tight fit, but better that than getting stranded on the road.

 

TPI, thats a piece of cake, try a SUPERRAM!!!!! I was cursing John Lingenfelter this morning, I would think a few more centimeters would not hurt performance that much!

 

I live in texas where it varys between 20* and 110* what should I do to protect a car from there temps? After all, you guys ARE talking about the weather!! :D