87 Tbi Starting issues maybe timing????

[jimmy'sjimmy]

Long story short the truck wont start and sounds like the timing is off. The distributor was loose enough for me to easily turn by hand. Whats the best way to find the sweet spot just to get it to start? Ive bumped the motor till the rotor points close to Cyl 1 and then try to start it but it just wont catch. Ive already replaced the coil and checked the module so they arent the prob. Am i over looking something possibly??? Have fuel and pressure just no fire

 

[4xcrazy]

are you absolutely sure you are getting spark to the plugs?

i have burnt out the little copper coil inside the distributer twice in the past, i think it's the "pickup coil" causes no spark to the plugs,

if you're sure about getting fuel/spray out of the injectors, and the timing,,,as you say,,,sound "off" try adjusting the distributor in very small movements.

I found this out on mine anyways when i had it removed a few times, at least with mine, if you make too big of adjustments, you will pass the "sweet spot" for it to start up right away. although on my carb'd motors, it seems like there is more room for error.

just alittle observation and opinion of mine though.

 

[jimmy'sjimmy]

not sure about spark to the plugs, dont have anyone to crank it while i hold the screwdriver but ill pick up a tester after work tonight. If the pickup coil is bad does that mean a whole new dizzy???

 

[4xcrazy]

no, it's not all that fun replacing though, not too hard, just not too fun...

you will have to remove the diz though, and if i remember right, there is s rollpin somewhere down near the bottom to remove the drive gear, and basically everything slides out.

Once you start getting into it, it's pretty simple to figure out, i had never done it before when mine burnt out, and it only took me a few hours to remove, fix and replace everything.

to this day i do not know why it burnt out, i just went out one morning after driving it the night before, and it woldn't start, if i remember right, i had spark the first few times, no fuel, then i checked the fuses, one was blown, replaced it, then i had fuel but no spark and all fuses were fine, and that's when i started tearin' into everything trying to find the bad component.

I actually had to do it twice in one day, the first one o bought was the cheaper one at the local parts store, got it running and then it died shortly after, tore it down again and went back and bought the only other one they had which was a few bucks more,,at like $10 or so, replaced it and have been running on it ever since,,,about two years now.

 

[jimmy'sjimmy]

doesnt sound fun but hey thats how you learn, thanks for the info!

 

[4X4HIGH]

The module will usually fail long befor the pick up coil does. The module you can change without removing the dizzy and it should only take you about 10 minutes to change it. This is all assuming that you don't have any spark.

 

[4xcrazy]

the module did not fail in my case though, everything checked out good, that's why i deciced to go deeper into the distributor and found the coil was burnt.

I mentioned this to him only because he stated that he had the module checked and all was good, and only if he could not find anything else wrong with it, to then further his search and check out that coil deal.

but he needs to obviously check to make sure he has spark, and then go further and let us know what's up.

 

[jimmy'sjimmy]

i bought a spark tester and there is no fire to the plugs so its got to be something in the ignition system. The coil is brand new and the module checked out good twice, cap and rotor have less than 100 miles on them. Im going to have to unplug everything and make sure each connector is properly secured.

 

[4X4HIGH]

If the coil is new (could still be bad but doubtful) and the module has tested good then you need to make sure you're getting 12 volts to the positive terminal on the coil and if so then you have a bad pick-up coil in the distributor or bad wiring between the pick-up coil and module or module to coil.

 

[jimmy'sjimmy]

i used the tester again this time i used a mirror under the hood to get a better look. tester pulses just fine for cylinders 1 and 2....just started another asking about bad gas. The truck has been sitting a while and by a while i mean a little over a year driven maybe 3 or 4 times within that time.

 

[4X4HIGH]

See my reply in your other thread.

 

[jimmy'sjimmy]

Thanks for the info!