I guess you found a reason to try the new cam spec's... That sucks!

 

yep, good thing I already have it.

 

I had a similar issue on my previous '01. Best way I found it was to take out torque converter bolts and push converter back clear of flywheel and start it. If that makes you nervous lol take trans bolts out as well with jack under and pull back a half inch then start it. My fly wheel cracked between holes...

 

Lol just read back my bad I'm new

 

thats ok, thanks for input.

 

quick question. does anybody fire their motor up with new gaskets before adding coolant?

 

No. Why would you do that?

 

just to make sure everything is back together correct before adding coolant and motor runs happy.

and also there are the old guys that used to say heat cycle the head gasket first too but mostly what i said above.

 

I bump the starter and kill fuel when putting everything back together, but it always has coolant in it.

 

ok, i bumped starter before putting spark plugs in just to make sure all was well. i finished putting all needed items into the motor then went to crank it up.

first attempt it made one compression stroke then fired right up died 2 sec. later. i attempted again and it fired right up. oil looked good but idle was a little high. i added a little throttle and rpms climbed but sounded like it was missing some.

i decided to shut it down and look for a loose plug wire. when i looked at it i realized i forgot to put the plug wires on the passenger side of motor lol... it was running on 4 cylinders. i put those on and fired it back up. so far all seems good. i will put some finishing touches on it this weekend and give her a shake down.