After thinking about the disappointing compression results and reading some of the comments, I figured I’d press on with trying to get it going again today. I decided to start at ground zero and hopefully not overlook anything.
1. Is there fresh fuel in the tank – YES
2. Is the oil level proper - YES
3. Are the batteries fully charged and at the correct voltage – YES (charged last night and measured 25.4VDC at the terminal on the starter motor)
4. Is the fuel making it to the carb – YES (visually see it in the clear fuel filter I have about 6 inches from the Carb (BTW - This is the only non-military, non-standard thing under the hood)
5. Is there fuel in the carb – YES (I drained the bowl which had fuel, then cranked the engine for 4 seconds and removed the drain plug again - the bowl was again full)
6. Verified I had 25VDC at the input to the Igniter assembly – YES (Measured 25VDC with the ignition in “ON”)
7. Is the Igniter working? YES – (Removed the spark plugs and connected them to the ends of the spark plug cables – the nice thing about the water tight spark plug cables is you can easily see the spark for each plug firing this way since the jacket brings the ground to the plug – I confirmed all 6 plugs had a spark and spark color was blue/white )
8. Is the firing order correct? YES, BUT…(I Verified the sparkplug cables are all going to the correct points and that the firing order is correct – HOWEVER since I had replaced the entire igniter assembly it is possible that the cam that connects to the engine is 180 degrees out of phase)
9. Is the engine compression OK? NOT SURE- (Since I am not able to run the engine to ensure all the rings and cylinders are well drenched in oil, I have to rely on the results that are showing ne between 60 and 90 psi which is low – As was brought up by one of the folks this is probably OK – It was working previously I don’t think anything really dramatic changed since the last time it worked)
10. At this point I believe the fuel side is good and the electrical side is in order should work.
11. Took Fuel cap off to prevent a possible vacuum in the tank.
12. Pulled the choke out all the way, verified on the carburetor that the choke lever did move.
13. Turned on the ignition power and engaged the starter……
14. Engine will still not start, not even the slightest hint of ignition. Tried the following:
a. Removed Air Filter and verified suction while my son engaged the started – OK
b. Verified air is exiting the exhaust – OK
c. Sprayed starter fluid in air-intake throat – NO EFFECT, not even a hint of ignition – Tried this a number of times…
15. Turned the ignition to “OFF” -Took the top half of the igniter housing off and made note of the position of the cam. Removed screw from the timing advance arm and removed the bottom half of the igniter assembly from the engine block. Rotated the igniter cam shaft 180 degrees and reinserted the assembly back into the block. Verified the cam shaft had properly seated then secured the advance arm back to the engine. Had my son engage the started (with ignition power off) to verify that the cam was properly rotating. Reattached the top half of the igniter assembly.
16. Turned the ignition “ON” and again tried to start the engine, still won’t catch, not even a hint of ignition. Tried starter fluid, still nothing.
17. I’m really puzzled - Seems like I have good fuel and spark. Even if the timing is off I would think I’d at least get some form of ignition going.
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Suggestions:
Hate to hear that your truck isn't cooperating... Not going
udden udden can make a person pretty grumpy in short order. The backfire sounds like a timing problem. You mentioned rotating the distributor 180. That should have made it not crank at all. It might be worth KNOWING that you have the distributor in there right. Remove the coil wire, then Pull #1 spark plug. Takes two people, but somebody turns the motor over with your thumb covering the spark plug hole (not in it!). You should hear and feel a loud hiss and you are on the compression stroke.
KEY is to not fly past the compression stroke and be on the exhaust stroke. Might have to do this test several times until you are SURE you are on #1's compression stroke. ...
Either with the hand crank or a big socket, rotate the motor slowly until the timing mark on the balancer aligns with the pointer. Then open the distributor cap. The rotor button should be pointing very close to the #1 spark plug wire. If so, your distributor is installed correctly. If not, it is time to move wires or rotate the distributor shaft.
Once that #1 wire is in the right spot, check the others to be certain that you have the firing order correct. There is more, but this is a "rough enough to crank" setting.
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Silly questions:
New fuel pump and new filter and work on the tank. You did a lot there. You even mention seeing fuel move in the glass filter. Any chance that you could connect a pressure gauge to the fuel system up front?
Fuel & Air mixture screws are generally set by the rebuilder or the factory. Most carbs are tested, but maybe not these days. The screws on the base could be checked. GENERAL RULE is all the way in, then back out two full revolutions. BE SMART and count the rotations in to zero before you make any adjustments.
Maybe some pictures of the carb?
Near the top of your post it runs for 30 minutes and quits. Does it still do that, or will it just not crank at all now? If that run and die thing happens, it could be vapor lock. Maybe some of the other guys will pitch in too - but maybe gather a little more info with the stuff above and post that?
Never did see any
pictures of the distributor or fuel pump and maybe even the top of the fuel tank? Maybe just a hand full of engine pix too for confirming firing order etc?
