Hello all! I've been kind of scarce around here lately because of being very busy with work, dealing with being sick and then my wife getting sick, etc. So I hate to jump back in asking for help. But I know there are many on here who can provide answers quickly because of their extensive knowledge and experience, and I want to thank you in advance for any help or suggestions you can provide!

Here's my situation... I've had my '92 F150 Custom (300 6-cyl) for about four months. It has about 223k miles on it. The truck is rough around the edges and needs some TLC which I have been slowly taking care of as money and time allows. But all that aside, it has been running fine for me.

Well, a couple days ago I used it to haul a load of dirt (really, mud since it was getting rained on) to a friends house. After we unloaded it i hosed out the bed a bit, hopped in and fired her up to drive back. She started fine, but died a few seconds later before I ever even started to go anywhere. This has happened on occasion before, especially when cold, so I wasn't concerned. But while she would crank fine, I never got her to fire again. One other side note that may or may not be related... When I hopped in to start her up, the cab smelled like antifreeze. Before I even started the truck, I hopped out to see if there was a leak. I could find no evidence of one, so I started it up. Then she died.

Anyway, I don't know where to go from here. I figure it's either a spark issue or a fuel supply issue, but I'm not knowledgable enough at this point to know how to pinpoint the problem. Both tanks have fuel in them and I tried cranking on both tanks. I've never had a no start problem before. I put brand new plugs in a month or two ago and have had no problems since then. I plan to replace the distributor cap and rotor, put in the new plug wires, and replace the ignition coil at some point just because of age. But I haven't done them yet.

What would you suggest I do at this point? I really don't want to pay a shop to work on it since I really don't have the money right now. I remember reading about other folks having no start issues, and it seems to me there are multiple possible causes. Some sort of fuel pump or sender that takes the fuel from either tank to the engine? Bad ignition coil? How do I test these things? I love working on my own vehicles, but I don't have tons of experience. Any suggestions you can provide are much appreciated!!

 

First you need to determine if you lost spark or fuel delivery. Do you hear the fuel pump run for a second or so when you turn the key on? If you do check to see if you have spark at the coil or spark plugs while cranking the engine. Kind of hard to do without a helper or remote starter switch. If you use a remote starter switch, don't forget to turn the ignition switch on.

 

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. Since it is broken down at my buddy's house I haven't had a chance to go back over there and try these things yet. I have another friend that may go over there with me and see what he can figure out. He knows a lot more than I do about these sorts of things. I'll keep the thread updated on what we figure out when we're able to get over there.

 

Well, I had my buddy who is pretty good troubleshooting these trucks take a look at my truck a few days before Christmas, and he quickly determined that she has no spark. Thinking it's either a bad ignition coil or something related to it that is in the distributor. I can't recall what that part is called. In any case, I've been wanting to replace the coil, distributor cap/rotor, and plug wires as part of a general tune up for a while, so I have bought the parts and plan to hopefully replace these parts in the next week or two. Hopefully that'll take care of the problem I have now, as well as help her run a bit smoother.

I'll keep the thread posted on how it goes. Only annoying thing right now is that having to fix this makes me want to get into other things as well, but the weather really isn't condusive to working on her right now. Very cold! I suppose I'll have to wait till Spring for other things. Oh well.

 

You may want to check the ignition control module . Mine is located on the side of the dist. Yours may be on the fender, not sure when it was moved. If you replace it, make sure it is the same color as the old one. I always keep a spare in the truck . One other thing, it usually is not the coil. At least for me it hasen't been.

 

If the gray PS TFI on the side of the distributor is dead you can tell it's not the computer by pulling the Spout plug and trying to start it.
Timing will be locked, but if the thick film ignition module is bad it won't start at all.

This takes a special little torx screwdriver to get off.

If you smell antifreeze inside the cab, it is likely coming from the heater core.

 

I will go along with the pull out the SPOUT and see if the spark returns, I bet it will.
Your smell of antifreeze inside the cab, it is likely the smoke being let out of the computer.

 

Ok, I'm going to show a little ignorance here and ask for clarification. What is the SPOUT? Also, the ignition module... Anyone have a pic of what that would look like? If so that would help me to identify it on my truck. I'm pretty new to the ignition system.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions everyone!

 

Spark Output (SPOUT): Desired spark timing information sent from the PCM to the ICM.


The ICM (Ignition Control Module) is screwed into the heat sink with the fins in the image below. It is wrongly called the TFI in the image below.
TFI is how it is electrical designed and not what it does.


ICM:



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Well, I'm back at square one with my no start problem. I replaced the ignition coil (which didn't fix the problem) and then took the ICM to my local AutoZone and had it tested. It came back good, so I reinstalled it.

However, while the truck was in the shop having it's steering repaired (Here is my thread on that whole saga: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-now-what.html), I asked them to do a quick troubleshoot on my no start situation. Unfortunately, they couldn't finish looking into it because my starter (which was on it's way out), quit completely. I don't want to pay them to replace something I can so easily do myself, so I asked them not to go any further. Without being able to crank the truck they couldn't do much troubleshooting, but they said that it didn't appear to be getting fuel pressure.

So, now I have conflicting suggestions as to the problem. My buddy said no spark, the shop is saying no fuel pressure.

If it's a fuel pressure issue, what do you think is the likely culprit? I have dual tanks and both were working prior to this situation. It won't start on either tank, and when you turn the key to the run position, instead of hearing the pump hum, instead there is a click that comes from the fuel tank area. This happens when set for either tank. What would cause this? Is there something easy that could be going on, or is it really possible that both pumps could go out simultaneously?

I appreciate your help!

 

well between being sick and not having time to work on it, well it seems you should just let it sit, or sell it to some one that does have the time to work on it. or your trying to find some one to come over and do the work for you, which i would do but im busy and sick.

 

Take a loading test light and go to the passengers kick panel. See if the test light will light for one second each time the key is turned on while touching the Inertia switch wires. You are testing the wires that feed the Inertia switch and the wire leaving going to the selector switch.
The wire that feed the Inertia switch is dark green with a yellow stripe and the wire to the selector switch is red with a yellow stripe.

The diagram below is for a 1993 but a 1992 is the same.


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Thank you Subford! I will see if I can get ahold of a loading test light and give this a try. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be something simple like this!

 

A loading test light is just a test light with incandescent bulb in it (no LED).

Also push down on the button on top it may just be tripped.




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Thank you again Subford! I'll give this a try ASAP. I opened up the kick panel this evening to find the inertia switch. I found it and the button appears to be fine.


I need to get a test light before I can test the power going to it. Maybe I'll be able to do that tomorrow. Is it possible for these switches to go bad without being tripped?