SES light on after changing intake gaskets. Need help!!

[dream on mcss]

Before i say anything, the car im working on is a 2000 Blazer 4.3 4x4. Lol, now for the details...

Ok so this weekend the intake gaskets blew out on my moms car, and to change them you have to strip the engine down to a long block, which requires removing the distributor. After putting the intake back on, dropping the distributor back it to where it was originally pointing (and i did not turn the motor over while it was out either), and reassembling everything exactly how it came off, the SES light is now on and i cant for the life of me figure out what it is. I took it down to autozone and heres what the scanner said:

Code P1345

Definition:
Camshaft to crankshaft position correlation fault
Explanation
The ECM detected that the cam and crank sensor positions were out of time
Probable cause
1. -Engine mechanical condition-Valve timing off
2. -Cam sensor or crank sensor are loose on their mounting

So what I'm thinking is that SOMEHOW, i dropped the distributor in one gear tooth advanced, which doesnt make sense, because it runs perfectly, and when i dropped it back in there it wasnt hanging up on the oil pump shaft, which MUST mean it was in the same spot. Because i did try taking it apart again and jumping it back a gear without moving the oil pump shaft, and it just would not allow it to slide in. Im assuming that since this engine is computer controlled, maybe it can retard the timing within a specific range to allow it to run right, even though its jumped a gear? IDK. What do you guys think? Im at a loss here lol.

 

[DRIVEN]

You'll need a scan tool to run a cam/crank sync. It involves setting the base timing and putting the ECM in a "learn mode", then pin the throttle for a couple seconds. Reset the SES light and all done. It only takes a couple minutes but if you can't borrow a scan tool, expect to pay a shop 1 hour labor to complete the procedure. It probably won't hurt anything to drive it as is for a while.

 

[dream on mcss]

You'll need a scan tool to run a cam/crank sync. It involves setting the base timing and putting the ECM in a "learn mode", then pin the throttle for a couple seconds. Reset the SES light and all done. It only takes a couple minutes but if you can't borrow a scan tool, expect to pay a shop 1 hour labor to complete the procedure. It probably won't hurt anything to drive it as is for a while.

Alright thanks man, I have access to a genesis scanner at my shop so I should be able to do that. Your probably right on the money though, because the computers memory was wiped when I unhooked the battery. I did find out that the timing was off though. Rolled it to TDC #1, popped off the cap and sure enough, it was out by one gear tooth. Strangely enough this misadjustment didn't change how it ran at all, which was quite surprising. Thanks for the info though.

 

[t01blaze]

Disturbing and/or replacing the distributor sometimes does that. There are 2 marks on the balancer, both need to be lined up when TDC on cyl 1, then point the rotor at the "6" stamped into the distributor body.

The procedure mentioned above sounds like the CKP relearn procedure. To fix the cam correlation code is to set ignition timing back to factory spec by using the scan tool and moving the distributor. The distributor cannot be adjusted like older cars, sometimes the hole for the bolt needs to be egged out. Check the s10forum, this comes up a lot. This has nothing to do with the computers memory being wiped. The CMP sensor is in the distributor, so if the distributor is disturbed the CMP sensor may not be in sync with the CKP sensor.

 

[dream on mcss]

Well, I sure feel stupid, lol. Turns out that it wasn't incorrect timing or anything, although the timing WAS off by one tooth, I remedied that and the light was still on. So today, my mom calls me up yelling at me about her car misfiring, and I'm thinking man what the hell could the problem be?! So when she got home I was sitting there giving it a little gas in park, holding at around 2 grand and sure enough, I could feel it misfiring. I go out, look under the hood and start playing with the distributor, trying to see it its on and clamped down all the way and CRACK!!! There goes the distributor cap!! So we had on of my buddies drive us down to autozone, got a new cap, threw it all back together and after 15 seconds of running, the light turns off and it runs fine. Turns out I accidentally cracked the cap when i was installing it because for some reason I think I need to he-man torque everything down lol. Oh well. Everything is back together, the car runs great, and I saved my mom well over a grand by doing the intake gaskets myself! Thanks for your help though guys, I'm still going to look at the datastream with our scanner while its running and see if I need to adjust the timing a little bit. I'm just glad I got it figured out though, lol...

 

[78mali350]

glad you got it figured out! I know when my dad and myself were working cars I would always overtighten. I finally had to ask "hulk tight" or just "tight" ha once you get it figured out all goes well. Congrats on getting the car fixed, well done