cam sensor bad or timing wrong?

[jacobdavis1979]

hey whats up guys. Well i bought me a truck on craigslist yesterday for $1000 it seems like its a great truck nice paint nice wheels awesome brakes tires and interior. Its an 88 gmc stepside with the 5.7 350 tbi of course with only 121,000 miles but its got one little problem it wont idle and runs down the road just alittle rough. Heres what the previous owner told me he says the timing is wrong and i agree with him 100% heres why. He says he was running dexcool which i didnt know that year started using dexcool of if he was using it on his own i dont know but it ate his gaskets he said he pulled the motor sent it to a shop where they replaced the head gaskets intake gaskets and valve cover gaskets. He got the motor back put it back in but said he was oblivious on how to set timing so i went ahead and bought it since timing is like a no brainer right. But for the fun of it i put it on the obd scanner and it threw the code for mass sensor and camshaft position sensor. So i talked to my buddy and he said if the dizzy was out and incorrectly installed that it would throw that code for cam sensor and its nothing to worry about just set the timing. Do you guys agree or am i just paranoid? The only reason i havent went out to mess with it yet is cuz well its freezing balls out here like i tottally saw a cat shatter from being frozen lol jk.Just wantin some opinions is all thanks guys.

 

[DRIVEN]

The TBI 350 has no mass air sensor or cam position sensor. Should be a tag on the fan shroud with instructions on setting the timing. I'm guessing tan wire and zero degrees.

 

[jacobdavis1979]

That sounds right. Im gonna take a look at it tomorrow and pray thats all it needs. It doesnt backfire or nothing so i cant imagine its that far off. Just driving it home i had to drive double footed so it wouldnt die at a stop light and when it did die and try to fire it back up the starter drags but cruisin speed this thing was perfect other than runnin about 200 degress but i think itl drop to a nice 190 when tuned right.
Alright thanks man for the help

 

[jacobdavis1979]

Ok so after playing with this thing today changing dry rotted vacuum hoses and fuel filter i got around to setting the timing. The shroud said tan wire and 0 degrees i got it set. The thing ran almost perfect for about 30 minutes. Now i got a new problem.
Im thinking now my ignition switch is bad but im not for sure. All my gauges on the dash stopped fuel pump is not pulsing and no spark now. After playing with the steering wheel a bit everything came back on like some crazy short in the wireing and runs normal untill moved the wrong way then it messes up again. Ive decide im going to change the whole steering column as i have another one cuz the wheel is lose the signals dont work wipers dont work and brights and dim lights dont work unless you hold them in place.
Do you guys thing i have a bad ignition switch and why thats not running right??

 

[workinProgress]

I would venture to guess you have a wiring short or a bared wire. And my guess is one of the U joints in the steering column is touching the wires and causing said short. I would go thru your column and make sure all your wires are clean, tight and secured away from moving parts. Bet you will find a wire is bound up in it somewhere or something like that.

 

[jacobdavis1979]

Thanks for the reply man I appreciate it. But this thread was an old one and continued on another. This truck was actually torn apart and a built 350 dropped in with a 4 barrel carb and hei conversion.
But if you came across this needing help il be happy to try and help 🙂