my ea81t developed a difficult to start problem. it pops really loud, then just rotates without starting, until several attempt, then it finally turns over. I can't tell if the pop is electrical or a backfire. I'm leaning more toward electrical. has anyone had these symtoms & what was the fix. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated with soaring gas prices i've left the suburban sit, till prices go back down. It only pops on 1st attempt.

I would tend to think the problem you are having with this is due to a backfire. If the problem was electrical then you would be blowing fuses hopefully with that kind of action.

 

Backfires are usually caused by timing problems. You may also be leaking fuel into the intake slowly since this seems to happen only on initial startup. Don't get near an open intake while cranking the engine in case of backfire.

Glen, do you mean open throttle. my tb is very worn out & i've pondered replacing it. i bought a complete junk yard ea81t engine about 2 years ago. maybe its time to swap in the other tb. what do you think?

im gonna guess its a worn distributor shaft.

 

its flopping around in there and throwing the timing off.

 

just a guess

The fuel injector that is mounted in the TB is what you need to check for a leak.

 

Worn bushings in the distributor, as was suggested, may be a possibility also.

 

Glen, do you mean open throttle. my tb is very worn out & i've pondered replacing it. i bought a complete junk yard ea81t engine about 2 years ago. maybe its time to swap in the other tb. what do you think?

Glen, its turbo mpfi not tbi, each cylinder has its own injector. Humble, How difficult is it to replace the distributor.

I guess one or more of the injectors could be leaking then. The disty is easy to replace as long as you mark the rotor position before you remove it and don't move the engine crank position. If you can line the rotor up with a marked position on the two disty's then you should be real close on the timing and not need a timing light to finish the job.