Recently purchased a '72 f-250 with the 360 engine...was running, badly, at that time, due to fuel squirting out the side of the accelerator pump.

The pump cover was curved, so I flattened it out, and put it back on with a new diaphragm. I also turned down the idle speed screw, as it was set so high before, I could have done 25mph without even touching the gas pedal.

Now I can't get it to start at all...I've tried with no gas, giving it some gas, choke open, choke closed, with some ether, more ether, lots of ether---absolutely nothing, not even a cough or sputter, just cranks and cranks.

The ignition coil was getting watered with fuel before, and I may have bumped/moved it slightly while reaching for the pump, not sure if that may have affected it somehow.

The gas gauge shows a quarter tank, and I can smell gas inside the carburetor.

Any ideas of what I could have done while fixing that pump, that is causing this?

Thanks!

 

with the ignition off!! look down the barrel of the carb and press the accelerator to see if you are getting fuel squirting down from the accelerator pump. If that checks out, and you are sure you have spark, try starting with the throttle wide open. It should happen within 10 seconds of constant cranking if it's going to happen. But first make sure you really have gas. it's kind of embarrassing but it's happened to most of us that we have thought there was plenty of gas and there wasn't. Good luck.

P.S. Other things to look for: Bad fuel pump, broken pickup in tank, plugged fuel filter, etc.

 

Actually,

as I read your post again, if you were adding ether and nothing, you must have nipped a wire or something along those lines as it sounds like there is no spark. Make sure nobody is fooling with you where they may have pinched your distributor rotor or something silly like that. Just make sure all the bits and pieces are there. Do you know how to check for spark?

 

Like ccoates said, verify that you are actually getting gas.

But it sounds to me like you've somehow lost the ignition system. Check the wires on the coil first. Make sure the nuts on the two smaller wires are tight. Check that the coil wire plugged into the center of the coil is clean and fully snapped in.

 

Yeah I got nothing even with the ether...

I don't know how to check for spark, do I need any special tools/testers to do that?


I went out today to try again, (after checking and tightening all the electrical connections on the coil) and it seemed I had drained the battery, as the starter was going real slow...a friend tried to help me jump it to get the starter going, and we found out the starter solenoid is sparking really bad...there were actually little pieces of orange hot metal dropping off and bouncing to the ground ...

Don't know if that would affect current at the coil, but I'm going to replace the solenoid tomorrow, and I'll get back here with an update...

 

Ok I got the new solenoid, and installed it...but when I tried to reconnect the negative battery cable to the battery, it started cranking the engine, LOL...

I was careful to put all the wires back on the way they were on the old one...but obviously I've done something wrong...

I've got on the new one:

left side large post...large black wire.

left side small post...marked "I" small wire with a black plastic "L" shaped connector, that snaps on to the thread (didn't need to screw it down like the others).

right side small post...marked "S" pinkish colored wire.

right side large post...large red cable from battery, and four other various smaller wires.


Anyone know what I misplaced?

 

Wow! You said the pump cover was curved so you flattened it out? I'm going to assume that you didn't take the carb apart. Okay,the first thing I would check is to make sure the accelerator pump lever moves freely when you move the throttle linkage to wide open. If it does,hold the choke plate open and look down the (front) barrels of the carb while moving the throttle to open. You should see gas squirt into both barrels. If not, you still have a problem with the accelerator pump or a sticking needle (float),bad fuel pump or clogged/broken pickup in the tank. As for the ignition coil,check the wiring to the coil. You should have a red wire with a green stripe going to the (+) terminal of the coil. I went out and checked both of my classic Fords,a '69 F-100 and a '70 Mercury full-size car,the starter wiring is the same on both of them. Yours is a '72 so the color codes should still be the same.The red wire with a blue stripe goes to the "S" terminal on the solenoid and the brown wire goes to the "I" terminal. The battery (+) cable connects to the side of the solenoid closest to the "S" terminal. The starter cable goes to the side of the solenoid that is closest to the "I" terminal. The other small wires, including the wire from the alternator,go to the same large post/terminal on the solenoid as the battery cable. I hope this helps you.

 

Heather, you have two problems, the carb and the starting circuit. Starter first.
You say you put in a new solenoid and when you hooked up the negative cable, the engine cranked.
There are two possible causes:
1) 12 volts are coming into the "S" and "I" terminals of the solenoid, pulling it in and closing the circuit to the battery. Normally there is only voltage on "S" and "I" when your ignition switch is at start.
2) You have a defective solenoid out of the box which is hung closed.

Do the following:
Take both small wires from the threaded lugs on the solenoid. Make sure you know where they were connected. Now, briefly hook up the battery. If the engine cranks you have a bad solenoid. If not, something is coming in on the "S" or "I" wires which should not be there.

I recently replaced a solenoid on my '67 with what I thought was top quality Borg Warner. I hit start and the engine started, but the starter stayed engaged and drove into the flywheel of the running engine. Turning off the engine by the switch had no effect. The coil was still getting voltage from the "I" terminal on the solenoid. I had to get out, open the hood and yank the coil wire to kill the engine. When I looked at the box, it said "Made in China." God only knows what damage I did to the flywheel ring.
The message on which we are all in total agreement here:
Never buy anything made in China.

Do what I said above and report back. We'll get you going.

Semper Fi

 

ether + working starter + not running at all = no spark period

sounds like she might have knocked loose a wire.

moron test *as is my moronic way to test not ment any onther way* for fuel delivery: remove number 1 spark plug get in truck look at number 1 spark plug and try to start engine like normal should see fuel coming out of spark plug hole
*WARNING DON'T HAVE ANY OPEN FLAMES AROUND AND PUT THE CIGGY OUT DURRING TEST*

wait about 30 minutes put sparkplug back into cable hold it to a grounded surface *read clean nut on engine block* have turn key look for spark in plug.

if you have gas coming outa spark plug hole and you have spark then your timing is outa whack. might have been a lose distributer that got bumped durring carb work.

hope i said that right and hope it helps.

 

Carpenter, Heather replaced the solenoid and as soon as he (she) reconnects the battery cables, the engine cranks. I think we should get that problem corrected first.

Heather, you don't need to know this but I have to tell you. Carburetors are precision devices. You can't flatten or straighten the parts you describe. I am afraid you are in over your head on repairing this carb and that you should budget for the price of a rebuilt unit.

 

but the next logical step was as described since the solinoid is a rather simple fix.

put all electical wires before the solinoid on the battery side *bumper side* then connect the starter on the back side *towards the cab* then attach front wires S and I. if motor engages reverse if motor still engages remove solinoid and replace.

no offence ment just figgured after your advice she would have fixed that and while she was under the hood she could do the above mentioned tests to make sure all is well then post back. wasn't intending to step on toes.

 

Carpenter, I'm confused. If you pull all the wires from the bumper side of the solenoid including the one to the + terminal of the battery, where does the energy come from to crank the engine when you hook up "S" and "I" and the cable to the starter?
I'm just trying to learn something here.

 

on your starter you as you know have your direct from battery terminal this has all of your wires on it and is always hot. then you have your starter side this only has your lead to your starter it is only hot when the ignition is engaged again as you know.

the always hot from battery points towards the front bumper as you know
the lead to the starter points towards the cab or back bumper.

once those are straight and connected you just attach the solinoid too ignition wires. if they are back wards your starter will engage. if not then your starter wont engage. as you know. there is no damage done if you make a mistake. if your starter engages after you have reversed your wires then your solinoid is bad just take it back and replace it no further trouble shooting needed. as you know.

i don't give advice about easily accessed wires by color or factory lables since in these trucks 40 years is a long time for people like me to just hack at them till they work. personally when i bought my truck it had black solinoid to starter lead. black positive bat. cable black negative cable. and it was grounded to the motor mount. so i tried to give simplistic directions visually if i didn't suckseed sorry about that.

 

Ok, I tried taking the small wires off...still the same problem, engine cranked the moment I put the negative cable back on. I got a different solenoid, and it worked for a short time as it was supposed to...but now there is a new set of problems, LOL...wow I don't even know where to start with this...

So, I got some guys out to help me try to work on this...we put on the new solenoid, and got the negative battery cable back on. (also installed new points and a coil, as those were shot). Tried to start the engine, and it cranked and ran for a short time, but when I released the key the starter just kept going. The guys suspected a faulty ignition switch, that will be replaced tomorrow. (key cylinder, and the electric plastic plug component behind it.)

But they also found out, that the starter was, intermittently, then constantly, staying connected to the engine when it was running, even with the negative and "s" wire disconnected, we could hear it spinning along with the engine, for the handful of times we got it to run for 30 seconds or so.

So got a new starter, which was bad right out of the box, LOL...so now have installed new starter #2, and just waiting on the ignition switch to try again tomorrow.

 

I might not have explained very well what I did, sorry...

The machined part of that accelerator cover, was curved like a cupped hand, even with a new diaphragm it wouldn't fit flush against the machined surface of the carb...I considered a trip to the junkyard to get a different one, but figured I might be able to save myself some time if I could even it out myself.

I used a flat piece of metal, and several small "C" clamps to carefully adjust it over several days, to make that machined face of it flat, so it would compress the diaphragm properly.

The little linkage part did hang up at first, but once I finished with the clamps, it moved correctly with no resistance.


A few of the bolts wouldn't tighten up as much as the others, and I did notice a few drops of fuel leaking out the edge of the pump cover yesterday...grrrr! I think that cover was curved and leaking for quite some time, and some previous owner just kept tightening the screws too much and stripped out the bolt holes...

I am concerned about the fuel leaking (though it is not anywhere near as bad as it was before), just not sure how to deal with the stripped out threads...

I guess that in hindsight a new carb might have been better, and might be needed anyway now, but I wanted to give it a try...

At the moment I'm more concerned with just getting it running, even for a short period...it's in a Target parking lot, where I have not been bothered up to this point, but I don't want to leave it there any longer than necessary...I really need to get it moved out of there...