HELP – motor won't start! (darkside)
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 826
Likes: 21
From: Golden, CO
HELP – motor won't start! (darkside)
wouldn't you know it, i am nearing the end of this project and found out today that my paperwork for the state has been approved and i can get this thing properly titled and licensed for the road *this week* if i wanted to... and now, out of the blue, the motor won't start!
any EFI gurus have some troubleshooting tips? '95 Ford 5.8 with factory PCM. has been starting just fine this whole time. i was trying to track down a CEL issue purportedly related to EGR, so i replaced EGR solenoid and valve (with junkyard units) -- engine started but same CEL status. i switched back to original units and then next day motor won't start. yes, i've switched back again just in case (though EGR shouldn't prevent from starting i don't think).
the only other thing i had done was bump the timing just a hair before swapping those components. again, it ran under that condition (the one time i tried it). i've pulled the spout ground/connnector and even slightly rotated distributor back just to be sure. still nada.
it will fire just ever so slightly but not start. then after a few attempts doesn't seem to even try to fire.
ideas of where/how to start? really really hoping to get this on the road ASAP!
any EFI gurus have some troubleshooting tips? '95 Ford 5.8 with factory PCM. has been starting just fine this whole time. i was trying to track down a CEL issue purportedly related to EGR, so i replaced EGR solenoid and valve (with junkyard units) -- engine started but same CEL status. i switched back to original units and then next day motor won't start. yes, i've switched back again just in case (though EGR shouldn't prevent from starting i don't think).
the only other thing i had done was bump the timing just a hair before swapping those components. again, it ran under that condition (the one time i tried it). i've pulled the spout ground/connnector and even slightly rotated distributor back just to be sure. still nada.
it will fire just ever so slightly but not start. then after a few attempts doesn't seem to even try to fire.
ideas of where/how to start? really really hoping to get this on the road ASAP!
Logistics Pro
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,920
Likes: 21
From: Bothell & Silverdale, WA
Your PLC (ECM or PCM) needs to see all of it's ducks in a row before it will let you go. Have you pulled codes? A bad EGR signal will give a no-start, that's why you need repeatability when you change things (start and run several times). A condition that existed in the PLC's memory will let you get away with it once, but once you started it, it changed.
Disclaimer: I am not an EFI guru.
Disclaimer: I am not an EFI guru.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 826
Likes: 21
From: Golden, CO
knock on wood
well, i'm not exactly sure *what* fixed it, but at least it is running again!!
in addition to just moving all the wiring around the PCM and ICM (checking for loose wires under the dash where this all lives), i also pulled the plug wire for cylinder 1 to check for spark. oddly, at that point it came much closer to starting than it had been when i cranked it over, so i put the plug boot back on and it fired up! my base timing was advanced much more than i was aware somehow, so perhaps that had something to do with it. reset to 10BDC (w/ spout bar pulled), replaced spout bar after tightening distributor and she's purring like a kitten!
i may just get this beast on the road before month's end!
cheers.
in addition to just moving all the wiring around the PCM and ICM (checking for loose wires under the dash where this all lives), i also pulled the plug wire for cylinder 1 to check for spark. oddly, at that point it came much closer to starting than it had been when i cranked it over, so i put the plug boot back on and it fired up! my base timing was advanced much more than i was aware somehow, so perhaps that had something to do with it. reset to 10BDC (w/ spout bar pulled), replaced spout bar after tightening distributor and she's purring like a kitten!
i may just get this beast on the road before month's end!
cheers.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 826
Likes: 21
From: Golden, CO
thanks
well this truck will live at ~5,500' elevation and make trips to the mountains at 11,000'+... EFI is the only way to go (i no longer have the patience for an oxygen-starved carb'd V8 bogged down trying to keep highway speed). 
i think it was more likely the timing. didn't see any loose wires, though admittedly the harness is a bit of a rats nest at this point.
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