How do you ground out a spark plug?

 

Touch it to something metal.

 

This is sounding to me like you either have very weak spark or no fuel flow into the carburetor...

 

Ok. I'll will see what I can do with y'alls advice so far. I will get back to you. In the mean time keep sending advice my way. Thanks.

 

Do i ground out every spark plug or just 1?
If I'm not getting a nice blue spark, where do I go to next?
if I am getting a nice blue spark, where do I go after that?

 

No you only need to ground 1 plug.


Verify you have good spark first and then we will go from there. You may have a bad pickup coil in the distributor.

 

Just went through the same thing yesterday, though not with a points distributor. I put gas in carb and it would fire but not run, many times. Looked down the carb and actuated the throttle, no fuel. Pulled the inlet hose from carb and put into a clear soda 2 liter bottle. Cranked and no fuel. Put the inlet from tank to pump in a can of fuel and cranked, nothing. Took fuel pump out and compressed the arm on it. The pump took five seconds to reset before it would pump again. New fuel pump and now it runs on its own.

Do Not let me distract you from the advice you’ve been receiving, I'm just adding to the conversation by stating my experience yesterday from a truck that sat ten years and was similar in situation.

 

you said you don't have a key ?

when trying to start the truck how do you know the truck ignition is in the RUN position?
if the trucks key is NOT in the run position I don't think you can start it no matter what...

maybe I missed that information?

 

the entire dash had been torn apart and ignition is gone. I have but no ignition to put it into.

 

welcome to FTE, Amigo.

it's been sitting for 15 years? It can sit for a few more weeks, more or less, without hurting anything.

And that's the name of the game here - don't break anything while trying to help. One basic thing to keep in mind is that normally an engine in good tune will start right up with just a flick of the key. Vroom!! The battery, starter, starter relay, cables, and the charging system itself are all "sized" based on this concept.

They have what's called a duty cycle and though these components can handle a couple hundred amperes of current, this is only true for very short period of time. SO - when people start leaning on the starter for 10, 20 or 30 seconds at a time, over and over, they are literally roasting the starter and electrical system, and putting a real hurt on the battery. The starter won't fail the next day (maybe) but its days are numbered.

Find a Tune-Up manual - the Ford Truck Shop Manual for your particular truck & year of manufacture has reprints available, MoToRs Repair, Chilton's, etc. Study these, and follow the procedures in the order they describe. Trust Me. Don't guess, don't assume, measure. It will save both time and money.

The first test, if you have no way of knowing otherwise the health and internal condition of the motor, is a cylinder compression test. It is pointless to try and tuneup an engine that has excessive wear or burned valves, bad head gasket etc. Don't spend any money and time on a tuneup unless and until this has been checked out.

The next thing to look at after something has been sitting a long time is deciding the likelihood of whether critters have set up shop inside the engine. If it was stored in a barn or outside, the chances are good. Most experienced guys might drop the oil pan on general principles to check for this, clean out any debris or sludge that may be obstructing the oil pump pickup screen.

There's lots of things like this, details and tricks of the trade borne of long experience that will greatly improve the chances of success. If this sounds like a lecture, sorry about that. But anyone who hangs out on these automotive forums sees individuals make the same general mistakes over and over, and I definitely made plenty of them meself.

 

No problem as long as you're aware of this, and know what you don't know!
Most of us are not mechanics either, but many of us have had the advantage of working on cars and trucks for most of our lives too, so know our way around this type of problem and have all the tools to work with too. All the tools we talk about are standard stuff for anyone that's worked on older vehicles before. Even compression testers are common in the cabinet if you've done this, while it will be some exotic unknown if this is your first go with an older engine.
Are you starting out with lots of tools yourself, or do you only have the basics at this point? Reason I ask is that you really must have a timing light and a dwell/tach meter for working with a newly installed points distributor. You can get away with just a feeler gauge set instead of a dwell meter, but it's only as accurate as you are.

The spark plug trick has already been mentioned, but the best way (hint, hint...) is to use a timing light. Clamp the pickup to each wire in succession and see if each one is passing a consistent spark to their respective plugs.
And going back to that distributor, do you know the firing order of your engine and did you quadruple check your order. Even someone that's been doing Fords for 40 years can criss-cross a wire now and then.

Where exactly was the spark you saw? Down at the points when they opened and closed? A little bit is normal, a lot is not but can happen because of the cap being removed. Not a big problem YET as far as we know.

Don't know. Does it need to be replaced? If so, then definitely yes.
But did you check the fuel flow as suggested previously? Did you verify fuel is getting into the carburetor?
And a good way to add fuel for checking an engine running is not to just put some in the carburetor venturii, but to actually add some to the float bowl. This can be done through the bowl vent(s) and this way if the engine is capable of starting it will and then stay running for more than a few seconds.
Putting fuel in the throat will just burn through quickly in a few seconds, while adding it to the inside workings of the carburetor will let it continue to run for as long as there is fuel in the bowl. Big help in diagnosing things.

An easy way to test your spark is to remove the coil's wire from the center of the distributor and lay it next to the engine. This way you don't have to remove a plug and even though it does not tell the whole story like the plugs can, it's a quick way to test for spark.
If it's not a robust and loud snapping sound with a nice white/blue spark, you need to verify that the points are adjusted properly and that all the components are functioning. Including the new ones unfortunately.

Then you need to check your ignition timing with a timing light. By then you would have already verified the availability of fuel.
But the recommendations of changing the oil and especially of doing the compression test are probably the best way to start.

You may be able to rent/borrow both the timing light and the compression tester from your local parts store if you don't have them already. And a dwell meter too if they even have those anymore!

 

Ok fellas fuel pump was clogged beyond clogged. Pulled off old filter pre carb and it was empty and clogged. Switched that out along with the fuel pump. Bypassed fuel tank and went directly to gas can. We have fuel to the carb. Please see video and tell me what's next. I checked spark and we have a decent blue spark( I believe) it back fires out of carb when sprayed with starting fluid. See video. Let me know next move. Can you check timing with timing light if engine is not running?

 

you can pull number one spark plug and get piston to top dead center and see if rotor button is pointing to number one on cap,,pull an clean all spark plugs in case you flooded them,,maybe run a compression check on cylinders since its been sitting so long, you could try advancing the time while cranking to see if it hits better or runs by turning the distributor ,,
the no ignition switch thing ? could be issue as unsure how your getting it in run position but maybe I misread something , but how screwed up is wiring harness ?

 

Yep, timing is literally the next thing you need to do/check/adjust.
But you can actually use a timing light while cranking. If you have a spark, you'll get a light.
Still takes two people of course, to make it easier, but as long as you can see the marks and pointer, you should be able to adjust timing.

If it comes down to it and you either don't have a light or just want to get on with it, loosen the hold down and twist the distributor clockwise a few degrees and see what happens.
Since the rotor is turning counter-clockwise, turning the distributor the opposite way will advance the timing. If it's a timing or spark issue in general, doing this should at least let you see something change on how it cranks and spits.

Paul

 

I was mistaken. We have an ignition switch. We are cranking with the key now..