LE9 engine - what distributor should I have?

[jrbarrie83]

A couple questions:

According to the '83 CSM, since my truck has (or had) the LE9 V8, I should have a distributor with the electronic advance (either in addition to or in place of the vacuum). I noticed I do have the harness connector for this. However, the issue is I don't know if I still have the original engine. If the engine is original, it has an Edelbrock intake manifold and carb on it. This being the case, would it be in any way beneficial to return the distributor to one with the electronic advance?

Also, I have a mess of vacuum and vent lines around the area of the canister. The majority of them have no destination and are plugged. I don't know if all of this has any adverse effect on engine performance, but I would like to do something with it all. Short of getting the correct intake and carb to return the truck to as original as possible, along with whatever other sensors or devices I might be missing, should I worry about correcting all of this?

I will post pictures if need be also, just to get a sense of what I am talking about, but I'm at work now and this was on my mind.

Thanks all!
Jim
'83 Silverado

[Stewart G Griffin]

If the truck came with the LE9 engine then you should have the ESC distributor.  Does your distributor have an extra 4 wire plug coming out of it?

Irregardless if the engine is original, if the engine has a knock sensor installed on it's side, then you can use the ESC distributor.  You can change this distributor into a "regular" HEI distributor by cutting the green and black wires (from that 4 wire plug) and connecting them.  i had to do this with my 4.3 distributor largely because i'm too cheap to get a new one.

More info:
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/drivetrain/escrepl.htm

[jrbarrie83]

The distributor does not have an additional connector. It simply has the connector to the cap and the vacuum port. Would the correct distributor have both the vacuum and ESC connector?

Where would the knock sensor be located and what does it look like? I'm sure my CSM will tell me, but I like to have additional input as well.

Thanks!

[bd]

Knock sensor (imaged below) would be located in the right side of the engine block, just above the oil pan gasket rail and forward of the starter motor.

[Stewart G Griffin]

The distributor does not have an additional connector. It simply has the connector to the cap and the vacuum port. Would the correct distributor have both the vacuum and ESC connector?

Where would the knock sensor be located and what does it look like? I'm sure my CSM will tell me, but I like to have additional input as well.

Thanks!

In that case, i wouldn't worry about it.

Yes, the correct distributor for an LE9 should have vacuum advance AND the ESC connector.

As far as any benefit to switching to an ESC distributor, IMO there may be, but it's probably insignificant.  (NOTE: That is just my opinion.)   Those LE9 engines were EPA rated to get 20 mpg! in 83, so maybe there is a benefit.........