Hi all, I recently replaced the Push rod cover and gasket as it was blowing oil like mad. Well I decided to replace the cap,rotor,wires and plugs. They were really bad. I've only had the truck a year but its been at least 5-10 years easy on this stuff. Anyway, the screws on the cap broke off in classic fashion and I had to replace the distributor. I marked the old one and the motor so I could relatively get the new one close. Well it will not start.

I then pulled the #1 plug and brought it up to TDC and checked the rotor placement to ensure i was on #1 on the cap. That all checked out okay, still nothing. I did notice the tube which plugs into the EGR valve just above the #6 cyl was broken. Brittle and cracked. Would this have anything to do with it not starting and where do I get a new one of those? I am unsure if this was broken prior or if I bumped it while tuning up.

 

let me tell you a story.
there was /is a fellow thinks he know something about engines. and he do to a degree.

The city he lived in, gave him 30 days to clean up the mess around his shop, for it was in city limits.
he couldn't get the fork lift to start. tried everything, replaced all usual suspects. rain, snow, cold ,miserable and the forklift was outside.

Days it took. no luck deadline drawing near.

an old bird dropped by, asked to look, squints down in the hole. Jerks out two plug wires and swaps them about.
bam!

she is running like fire!!

just recheck everything even if you KNOW its right.

 

Do you have spark, do you have fuel? Did you remember the plug the distributor back in?

 

It's got fuel and yes the distributor is plugged in. Not sure about the spark as I'm alone and when turning the key I can't see a plug wire to verify. Also, On bringing it around to TDC. My engine doesn't seem to have the marks on the timing cover, it has a needle. I've seen this before.

 

I just pulled all the plugs back out. They are all fouled with raw fuel. I blasted them with air and dried them out. Still will not start. something that I should mention. After placing the new distributor in, I followed a diagram I found online showing the firing order and wire location on cap. This was done prior to going to TDC and checking rotor position. All the wires were advanced one clockwise of proper position. I.E. #1 was on #5 etc.. Could this have fouled the plugs to the point they are junk? I feel like an idiot trying to hurry and not do TDC first and ensure the rotor position.

 

These were the plugs that came out of it and oddly it ran decent then. Ugh

 

U do know the 4.9 is clockwise rotation right? Not to be rude but it got me before lol. Make sure ur ignition module is good. Is the rotor making good contact?

 

Yeah I know its clockwise, no worries. I appreciate any thoughts. It's just that the damn thing was running with those disgusting plugs and dry rotted wires and cap and now that I had to replace the distributor, I cant even get it close.

I checked the ohms on the coil and they were okay. I'm gonna check the spark tomorrow in the daylight on the coil. DO you guys really think fuel fouled plugs are ruined? I mean they are brand new and I dried them out. I don't understand how they would get ruined but I'm not an expert.

 

you are going to have to determine whether you have spark or not. if you can't find a second pair of eyes to help you, working by yourself, you should be able to pull a plug and its lead, and lay it somewhere on the engine where you can peek at it between the cowl and the hood while you crank the engine. or, just jump the terminals on the fender-mounted starter relay with a large, well-insulated screwdriver (although that's not my personal preference).
i wouldn't worry about the plugs having gotten fouled; if they are dried, cleaned and gapped, enough of them should work to at least make the engine run.

 

Well I pulled the #1 plug and checked it for spark through the cowl like u suggested. Did not see any. Then I put a spare plug from my car in the coil wire and still had no spark. Used a multimeter on the positive terminal of the wiring harness that hooks in to the coil and touched a ground source with other lead and got 11.8v or so. Does this mean that terminal or the post on the coil?

 

You're getting power to the coil, then. Is the ignition module on the fender plugged in?

 

Yep ignition module is plugged in.

 

Getting power to coil but no spark from there, wouldn't this indicate a bad coil?

 

This is what the coil looks like.,. So much on this old truck is rusted and corroded away.

 

Update: New coil came today, got spark at coil and at distributor. still wont start. Too cold to mess with it today so it will have to sit.