What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

battery is fine now, but won't start-URGENT TRUCK HELP

Well, Ha. Tried to move it today and stalled it on start up. Went to start it again and the battery just died. So there is a short someone too. Hopefully tomorrow it will be charged enough and will start. Then thats another thing I have to do :doah:
 
I will try those things you suggested now Rene since I have extra time.

I turned the black plastic cover on the electric choke part and then it started sort of, just REALLY rough and then a HUGE BANG went off then the engine died. My ears are still ringing from it. Is this a really bad backfire, or what is it?

I will be back soon and see how dis connecting the wire works for it.

Would messing with the lean/rich fuel thing change anything? Or the air/gas mixture? I'm not totally convinced I had them correct last summer.

Thanks........
 
I messed with the spring inside the black cover and made it so as it sits the plate is 90* to the ground (vertical). Then I played with unhooking the wire and hooking it up and nothing really happened, since it doesn't start up.

Any other thoughts? I'm going to put my nose into the Q-Jet book and see if I can come up with something.

Can someone explain to me why one day it will fire up and move fine, then the next it won't even start once, let alone beable to drive? This is the big thing bugging me. Both days have approx. the same temperature too.

:mad:
 
I tried again today and nothing happened. It's approximately 1*C out, colder then last time. It just cranks, doesn't even sound like its going to start.

Why does this thing always give me trouble:mad:
 
Well tomorrow is my last day before I go on holidays.
SO...my plan is to look over the carb book and see if I can come up with my own ideas for a change. Maybe mess with the spark plugs a bit. Test fuel lines, etc.

I mentioned this before but no one answered it. When I try to start it, and it doesn't start, afterwards I hear this "gurgling" sound of what I think is bubbles in the gas tank or something. I don't really know why. Maybe this is part of my problem??
Any suggestions?
 
Only thing I can think of is something might be loose, that may explain the on and off behavior (carb or distributor). Since it was last driven regularly, is the carb the only thing thats been off and wrenched?
 
If the choke for the carb is what you think MAY be causing your problems you could take a piece of wire and wrap it around the choke linkage and wire the choke in the open position (just to test). Then try starting the truck. It won't want to idle, but it should run. No choke is better than a partially closed choke. I've run mine an entire winter with a race carb that didn't have a choke. You just have to give it gas to keep it running until the engine is warmed up. Trying this will tell you if you have a choke problem or something else, and it should take less than 5 minutes to try.
 
roadnotca said:
Only thing I can think of is something might be loose, that may explain the on and off behavior (carb or distributor). Since it was last driven regularly, is the carb the only thing thats been off and wrenched?
Click to expand...

The carb is the only thing I touched when I took it off last winter. It wasn't driven regularly, just weekends BTW. I should have added that..

I already checked the distributor and it feels tight, and I haven't touched it.

I will try tying the lever so the choke stays fully open.

Thanks
 
I used a twist tie thingy to hold the choke open and it still won't start.

It stays open usually now because of the way I adjusted the spring under the black cover for the electric choke. So...
 
Pull the carb, work on a bench and audit the work you've done before. 99.9% of those books are pretty dry, its not in them to put giant red letters or whatever indicating some step that is really important, they must tell their tech writers "do not use the word important". John Muir wrote "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, for the Complete Idiot" some 30-35 years ago. Made him Millions because He wrote it so motornotheads could keep their Bugs running until they could buy a Rolls Royce when their record hit platinum.
I invented a new word? Motornothead:haha:
Anyway, pull the carb, save your back; you'll appreciate it later in life (ouch).:doah:
 
Probably what will be the fix is to repeat (generally) what you had done before, and you'll find the error. I've done it hundreds of times myself. Some call it wisdom, or wishdumn.:haha: I'm on a roll tonight with these "words":doah:
 
I maybe missed something in your post here but was your truck running prior to it not running?? Did you change something or fix something when it started to not start??
 
I have a 400 in my 79, last year it quit one day, would not start, I changed the ignition mod, plugs, everything, even went as far as buying a rebuilt distributor. All because of a simmilar sounding problem. I had a friend rebuild my carb and look at it with me. We couldn't fiqure it out. We checked timing chain etc. nothing. I pulled the engine and disassembled it. found a lot of wear, but also that I had a cracked block, in the lifter valley and one head. I rebuilt a new 400, dropped it in used the old dis, carb and fired up immediatly, not saying your engine is gone but sounds very simmilar to my problem.

Try this, make sure firing order is right - then turn Air/fuel screws out 3 1/2 to 4 turns, unhook your choke wire and fix your choke wide open. Hold it to the floor and turn over, you should hear it try to fire if everything is ok, it should go.

Good luck
 
one thing in a previous post that i think everyone overlooked is he mentioned that it backfired and it appeard to come from the base of the carb, and that the carb had been removed and reinstalled, 2 things i would check first, i bet you have a HUGE vaccum leak at your carb to manifold gasket get some dish soap and put about 2 spoonfulls into a 16oz spray bottle and fill with water, spray it all around the base of the carb and try to start the truck, IF it runs continue spraying around the base of the carb if you have a leak the rpms will pick up and it will suck in the soapy water. check carb base and intake manifold mounting area for warpage if its good replace gasket. second check your float setting and make shure its not flooding the engine. now if all that is not the problem lets go to the basics an enigne needs
1, Fuel
2, Ignition
3, compression/correct valve timeing

if it has been starting and running we can assume it has some compression a good test for compression and valve timeing is get a vaccum guage hook it to manifold vaccum like the brake booster hose disable the ignition remove coil wire, pull fuse whatever it takes, hold the throttle wide open and crank the enigne for 5 seconds while watching the vaccum guage it should read 1-2 inches of vaccum and may bounce slightly. if it is below 1 inch you may have low compression or bad valve timeing but i dont think that is your case. reconnect your ignition

check the ignition next, pull a spark plug reconnect the wire and ground the threaded part of the plug to intake manifold or some other non painted surface on your eninge crank and see if it jumps the gap on the plug or if your a thrill seeker grab hold of the plug wire with your hand and grab anything metal onthe truck and crank it over nothing like 20,000-60,000 volts to start your day, if the engine fires it will sound funny but its not damageing anything reinstall plug if you have spark

Fuel, granted your 1 year old fuel filter may pass fuel but it may not be enough volume to keep it running or your fuel pump may be bad i highly suggest getting a good fuel pressure guage kit that will test pressure and volume follow the directions with that guage for testing your pressure and volume.

as far as your electrical problems invest in a decent multimeter like a fluke meter and preform a voltage drop test on all your battery, starter, and ground cables
here is a good article on starting system diagnosis and troubleshooting http://www.prestolite.com/pgs_training/training_4.php

hopefully this helps and might give you somethign to work with, if all else fails check local comunity collages for a good automotive program and see if they have a tune-up class that could tackle your problem might take a while but its VERY cheap and everyone gets to learn most schools will let you watch the class troubleshoot your car/truck good luck!
 
Thanks
How do I check the float setting and what do I use? I have all the stuff from the rebuild packed away in boxes in the garage still.

I will try that spark plug trick too. Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom