Old family friend had a 89 f150 thats been sitting in his yard and ive been bugging him about daily...2 cases and some shine later he threw me the keys, signed and notarized the title and told me to get it outta his yard... He told me that it was running good then it started to have a hard time starting, idled really rough like it was running on 2 cylinders, motor shaking, plugs fouling, he couldnt bring the rpms up because it would stall..he changed plugs, wires, then it just wouldnt start...he is an older gentleman, and his memory isnt so great, so im not sure if thats all he did or not...

This is what Ive done so far...New cap and rotor, new plugs, new wires, fresh oil, new TPS, cleaned all sensor connectors, checked the computer and it had a few burnt capacitors so I bought a new one, new fuel pump, new high pressure pump...

Still wouldnt start so I bough a reader and pulled codes...
KOEO
23 Throttle Position Sensor signal out of Range
67 Neutral Pressure Switch circuit failure, circuit open ( 3.0L MAP, 3.0L MAF-SFI, 3.8L SFI)

Continuous Memory Code
15 Power Interruption to computer memory or EEC (PCM) Keep Alive Memory (KAM) test failed

Pulled the plugs and there wet, smells like gas...I do have spark on each cylinder, pressed the valve on the fuel rail and gas shot out...now im lost lol...wondering what the tps code means, it is a new one, but what is signal out of range?..not sure about the NPS code either, it was in neutral when I did the test but I do have to press the clutch a couple times before im able to turn the engine over so im assuming thats what it is...and I have no idea what code 15 means...any help and tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

anybody got any ideas or tips?

 

When you crank it does it act like it's trying to fire?

With the plugs being wet I have to wonder if the spark is weak, maybe a defective ignition coil.

 

How long has it been sitting? YOu might want to consider putting some high octane fuel in the tank or dropping the tank and flushing it out. God knows how long that truck has been sitting. Check the timing? Fuel pressure? might be a good idea to change the fuel filter out. New computer, is it OE? Check to make sure it is correct for your model/year (seen that one before). Re-establish your grounds, all of them. Check for wires touching in the harness going to the computer. Check all your fuses. Go through the simple free things first. Check your timing and make sure the firing order is correct. Free first...

 

It doesnt act like its trying to fire at all...


I am wondering about the spark...its a dull orange, not a bright blue how it should be..new cap, rotor, plugs, wires...

How can I test the ignition coil?

I just bought a new module, thinking that may be the problem but I havent installed it yet..

 

Truck was sitting 3+ years... When I changed the fuel pump there was alot of black gunk in there...tried to clean it as best as possible before I put the tank back up... New fuel filter when I changed pump and high pressure pump...Bought a fuel pressure tester, however I cant find the fitting that I need, Oreilys, Advanced and Autozone doesnt have it...Im not sure if the computer is OE, computer came from Autozone...how can I check if its OE? Fuses are all good... Brought cylinder up to TDC, lined it up on the pulleys...firing order is correct 153624

 

the wire connecting the starer relay to the fuel pump had a break in it...found that out wigling the wires with the key on and the fuel pump starting going off and on...cut it and went to all the parts stores in my area...once again they didnt have what I needed...its a 20 gauge fuse link, parts stores only had up to 16 gauge...

 

I will be checking grounds in the a.m

 

3 year old gas? Truck sitting outside? Get rid of it. Does it smell OK, or like paint or varnish? Rig up a 3 gallon boat tank or something like that with fresh fuel. Weak, yellow spark will never do, not under compression.

 

I changed the gas when i changed the fuel pump...fresh 10 gallons in there right now...i will try to smell it in the a.m... one of the things im really trying to figure out is how to troubleshoot the weak spark...

 

Start with the battery. How old is it? Three years + ? Charge it up thoroughly. At a slow rate 24 hours won't hurt anything, or better buy a new one. Re-establish good ground connections at block, and firewall. Test the coil primary and secondary windings for ohms resistance in the ballpark. They generally work or they don't, but not always. If the secondary resistance in particular was way out that might indicate some shorted turns.

 

I have a brand new yellowtop on her right now...I will put new grounds in the a.m...Will check the resistance in the a.m as well...will do everything suggested and reply back with the results...

 

sorry took awhile to get back..had to take a short parish paid vacation lol...so I started back on her yesterday...I got her to run for about 5 minutes...I put a new fuel pressure regulator and distributor module...pulled off top half manifold and gas started pouring out, full of gas, drained the gas and put the manifold back...started and she ran good for about 5 minutes, then she started missing, died...wont start again, not trying to start at all again...plugs wet again...

fuel pressure test
connected tester, turned on the key went to 30 lbs, turned engine over, let go of key now at 54...now while cranking she drops to 40, let go of key back to 54..turn key off registers at 50, 10 minutes later with key off dropped to 38..turn on key back to 54, leave key on and 15 minutes later down to 48...turn key off, 10 minutes later down to 40

 

Someone else should chime in and confirm this one but I don't think its supposed to build up to 54 psi even with the engine off, I'd be looking to see if you got a fuel pressure regulator issue. one other thing I would check with it while you are looking that way is pull off the vacuum line and see if its spitting gas out threw it and into the intake. Might explain why it was full of gas when you pulled the manifold as well if that's the case.

 

its a brand new fuel pressure regulator...I pulled the line and no gas was coming out...