Hello.
I just bought a 1987 F250 4x4 manual 4 speed with 92000 miles. Truck had not been driven and sat for 2 years prior to my purchase. Took to auto shop to look over with carb having to be rebuilt and adjusted. General maintenance was completed while it was there. Picked up last Friday. While driving yesterday going up a hill felt like I missed a gear with truck stalling out and pulled over to side of road.
Truck would not start. Turning of the key would get the starter to go but would not start. I thought maybe I flooded it. Let it set for couple hours went back to start it and had occassional episodes of ignition not turning over but would eventually turn over but no start. There were times the engine would turn over without the pause.
Last night went to tow it home. The engine wouldn't turn over let alone start.
Lights work, windshield wiper works, heater, radio work. Engion light comes on when key is turned on, Only thing I did yesterday was fill the back gas tank and filled 1/3 the front tank. The truck ran Friday after leaving the shop and Saturday morning prior to going up the hill with stall and subsuquent no starting.

Any ideas on what may be causing my dilemma? I am a novice at automotive repair so any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Doug

 

Check the obvious electrical components, the fuel pump, and the starter its' self....otherwise I have no clue...

 

Have you tried pull starting it?

 

Thanks for the replies.

What is the best way to check the electrical components, fuel pump and starter? Are there any "tricks of the trade" that would help determine if these are the probles?

If it would start with pulling, what would this tell me? If it didn't start with pulling what would that tell me?

Thannks again for the help.
Doug

 

which gas engine is this?
start by removing a spark plug to see if its dry or wet.
im betting dry,and your fuel pump failed
or other fuel related problem,such as fuel filter,tanks pickup(s),fuel selector valve,etc. etc.
charge your batteries.you drained them with all the cranking.

if it runs when you pull start it,then that tells you the problem is with the starting system.bats/alt/starter/cables/terminals etc.
if it doesn't (which im betting on) then you'll know its something besides the starting system.

 

Thanks everyone for the great information. The engine is a 460 with a Holley 4 barrel. I will try the above suggestions and see what I find.
Thanks again for the info/suggestions.
Doug

 

Did they change the fuel filter as part of the general maintenance? If not, I would do that. Whether or not it is the starting problem or not it needs to be done.

To be sure it is fuel related, get a fuel pressure gauge and attach it to the fuel rail on the 460. Someone else familiar with the engine can tell you where to look for the Schrader valve.

Starting problems are either electrical or fuel. Try to analyze it from that perspective. Prove that one or the other is good, then move to the other.

 

Check for fuel in the carb(pump throttle and look to see if accel pump squirts fuel) Could be fuel pump(dried up from sitting)

Sounds like it could have starter/soleniod issues if it randomly doesn't even crank when you turn key. Could just be bad connections from sitting? Even a bad battery connection.

Need to get someone with some basic technical skills to go over the basics.