ok guys i have a 1992 Ford F150 with a 5.0L 302 and a AOD transmission and 180,000 miles on it. A month ago i was driving home from college and i turned down a road the truck all of a sudden had no power barely any to pull itself up a hill. Upon further inspection the trucks exhaust manifolds were glowing orange so this means it was running extremely lean on both banks. so when i got it home i pulled the distributor cap after checking to see if it had any spark because it wouldnt even turn over. the truck was not sparking and when you went to crank it up the motor would turn but the rotary button was not. so i pulled the distributor and it sheared the pin holding the timing gear in place. the distributor that was in it wasnt even a year old so i got a new one with the warranty we re installed it put the truck on top dead center re stabbed the distributor and placed it where the rotary button was on cylinder 1. replaced all the spark plugs etc. we took the chip out that runs off the modual (fender mounted) that is suppose to be removed to retime the vehicle. when we went to start it to retime it to 10 degrees with the timing light the truck turns over but will not start. fuel pump kicks on and is running at the right pressure and the coil is sparking but the truck will not start. we rechecked everything and its all where it should be. this is where i need help WHY WONT THIS THING CRANK. It has good compression on all cylinders to any help would be appreciated.

 

Did you point the rotor button at cylinder number 1 on the engine or where the spark plug wire goes on the cap?

I've seen people get confused and point the rotor at the #1 cyl instead of the terminal

 

the button is pointed to it on the cap. and before it sheared the pin it was running good.

 

What did you use/do to ensure you were at TDC on cylinder 1?

 

You probably got the distributor 180* off. The crankshaft(timing mark) goes around twice for every one time the distributor goes around.

 

we took the spark plug out of cylinder 1 and placed a finger over the hole until the motor turned over on compression stroke and blew it off of the hole.

 

Where did you check for spark? I.E., plug end of the wire, coil etc.

 

We took the coil wire off the distributor and spark tested it there.

 

Check for spark to the plugs. Make sure the plugs arent gas fouled. Did you try moving the distributor around while cranking it?

 

No we didn't try moving it around while starting. And I will check the spark to the plugs. I'll post back when I do. I have to work on it outside I don't have a shop or garage and its cold as heck and suppose to start snowing tomorrow.

 

We may be getting somewhere. Without knowing if spark is making it to the plugs you could have a bad cap, rotor, as stated above fouled plugs.......

 

Good possibility they gave me a bad distributor at the part store.

 

If it was a "rebuilt" version, quite possibly. Many are never tested....only cleaned up.

 

Cap or rotor maybe but you're have spark so the distributor is making spark. Ive always had to mess with the distributor to get them to start.