Wild hair? Yes... But the truck ran ok just as of about 3-4 weeks ago. I had been meaning to change plugs and wires since then, just never got around to it. I will inspect again. But I cannot see any damage to any wires in and around the dizzy. Charging battery now.

 

One of the most frustrating things about old vehicles . . . while you fix one thing, another sometimes silently falls to pieces. It's easy to focus on what you just changed, but better to step back and diagnose as if you just saw the truck for the first time.

If you're certain the ignition systems is put together correctly and you're getting at least a decent spark to the plug (at the right time), you should at least be getting an occasional cough from the motor.

I have an FE in an older car with the ignition converted to electronic. If I let it sit for 2-3 weeks, it takes a ton of cranking to get fuel to the carb and into the motor, especially if the carb is a little gunked up. Before cranking it next time, try a shot of two of starting fluid in the carb--just to be sure.

~Steve

 

Update.... Tried the starting fluid in the carb, got a backfire with a lil fireball and a small flame in the carb

I cannot find ANY connections messed up or loose. Car still just cranks, but acts like it wants to catch.

 

Is the battery fully charged i had the same problem with mine charged the battery overnight and fired right up with no compression in 1st cylinder

 

Well I wondered about that. I would not use starting fluid, btw. About a teaspoon of gasoline will do the trick. Make sure fuel is in the bowl and carburetor is OK?

That said, a "backfire" from the carburetor pretty much always means a timing issue. Double check the #1 cylinder at TDC, compression stroke. Observe where rotor points. Should be just shy of #1 plug wire/tower. For example, a high mileage engine may have a real loose timing set - the chain and worn sprockets mean jumped camshaft timing. It *could* be some other things, as others have mentioned it may be time to start from scratch. Assume nothing and troubleshoot from the start.

 

Just had the battery tested. It tested good and 100% charged.

Tedster, how do I ensure #1 cylinder at TDC? (some of this is new to me).

BTW, I sincerely appreciate you guys taking the time to help/advise.

 

Well, no problem, many people have helped me here over the years.

It's tough to troubleshoot remotely, because some assumptions have to be made, about the truck condition and experience of the operator. But, they are pretty simple compared to modern vehicles, Jeeze Louise!

Ok. Determine what engine you have, after 50 years, I have no idea. I'm guessing a 352? You need to know for sure.

More specifically determine the cylinder firing order, and the physical location of #1 cylinder. It's sort of arbitrary, but each engine family has a designated #1 cylinder. Remove the #1 cylinder spark plug.

With a breaker bar and socket, your thumb over the spark plug hole, turn the engine over by hand at the damper bolt clockwise until engine compression forces your thumb off the spark plug hole. Observe the timing mark on the damper, it should be very close to aligned with the pointer. Line it up if necessary.

This is the mechanical TDC for the #1 cylinder, on the compression stroke. With a sharpy, make a mark on the distributor body aligned with the #1 spark plug wire receptacle as marked on cap. Remove distributor cap and observe where the rotor points. It should be very close to alignment with the #1 mark.

Let us know what you find.

 

I am pretty sure it is a 352, the dude I got the truck from seemed to know a lot about the truck. But cannot say with 100% certainty it is not a 390.. But from what I have researched they both have the same firing order.

Ford 352, 360, 390, 406, 427, 428 Firing... | Speedmaster?

I will try what you suggest in the AM and report back.

Thanks

 

Excellente! Now we're on the same sheet of music here. You know the #1 cylinder, and distributor rotation for certain. What CAN happen, is the wires get installed any old way depending how the distributor is installed. Aka "a tooth off".

This will work so long as the firing order is maintained. If they get installed "correctly" it will not run, or run poorly. If the timing chain slips, this can be compensated for as well in a similar fashion.

Finally, the damper can slip off its axis and bugger the accuracy of the timing marks. All this can add up to a very confusing mess for a newer mechanic. Yeah let us know what you find.

Had you driven the truck much before the late unpleasantness? I'm just guessing on this, but a high mileage motor is going to have some typical problems. Stale gas, gummed carburetor is a possibility, etc. running rough can be a lot of things. It "should" run with just a plug change though.

 

Update...

No I had not driven the truck. But I would go out and routinely start it up. Ok I did the items suggested with turning the engine manually. Not 100% sure I did to the utmost accuracy. First observation I was not sure how much pressure was supposed to on my finger while in the hole of the #1 plug. It never like blew my finger out the hole. But I did feel the pressure. So I did the test twice. First time I observed the position on the rotor and balancer when the pressure got to my finger. Rotor position was about 1/2 an inch before the #1 wire post on cap and timing mark was about 1/4 inch before the dial. I did the test a second time just beyond feeling no pressure on my finger. Rotor position was about 3/4 in after #1 post on distributor. And about 1/2 inch beyond dial on the balancer.

Was the pressure from the #1 plug supposed to great enough to push my finger out the spark plug hole?

 

Yes, if the seal is enough, the idea is that there is no mistaking whether the piston is on the compression stroke.

Exact TDC of the #1 piston means the distributor will point just before the #1 spark plug tower location on distributor cap, it won't point exactly on account of the BTDC engine timing. It sounds like the distributor is close, close enough to run anyway from your description.

But, a "tooth off" is also enough to cause this problem. Have you tried advancing the distributor CW and see if it will start? You could scribe a mark on the housing prior and return to the original timing if that doesn't help.

I'm still unclear on one thing though - there is good strong spark at the plugs?

 

I am having this same issue with my truck. Engine turns over, great spark, good clean fuel flow into carb, carb cleaned & rebuilt, all new ignition parts, dizzy lined up correctly, good compression etc. etc. If was running fine, died & now I can't get it to start. Please let us know if you get it running & what you did - I might be having the same problem!

 

I'll keep you posted and will update this thread tomorrow. Tedster yes it seems to have good spark at the plugs... Stay tuned.

 

Update -

Truck is now up and running. The distributor was a tooth off. Off of information found here in other thread mixed with what you guys provided here, I restabbed the dizzy myself. Everything seems all good. Actually runs MUCH stronger now. I am not sure how or why this problem popped up after a plug change. But seems all good now. I really appreciate the time taken to help me out...

 

Amazing! After reading your post, I played around more with my distributor and SOB, it started right up! I must have been a tooth off as well. Engine was set at TDC & rotor was pointing to #1 cylinder. After pulling & resetting the distributor several times in a slightly different position, it finally took off. Thanks for the post. Happy trucking.