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Truck wont start - ideas?

bp71k5 said:
And the injector are spraying fuel, not dribbling or pouring in, correct?

I’d take a spark plug out, keep the wire on it and touch the metal body of the plug to the head while the motor turns over and see if it sparks. Obviously be careful if you had gas in one of the cylinders. Gas+spark=fire.

This guy up there types faster than me.
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@SnackPack
if i do this and it does spark then that means coil
if it doesn't spark that means distributor
right?
 
If it doesn’t spark, it means it could be either. I’d double check the connections from the coil to the distributor. Maybe the connectors aren’t seated. Also check for 12v on the other coil post with the key on.
 
SnackPack said:
Pull a plug out, put the wire back on it, and lay the threaded part of the plug on a good ground, like an intake manifold bolt or something. When cranking, you should see a spark. Can be done using a phone camera if you don't have a helper.
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Or you can use vise grips and clamp the plug to something grounded (basically any piece of metal on the truck) that you can see between the hood gap.

Spark and fuel. If the plugs spark and the injectors are pushing fuel, then it's tougher diagnosis. Check for those two before worrying about parts or wiring.
 
My bad, these TBI coils don’t have posts where you can easily check voltage. But there is one plug that goes to the distributor (not the one that’s like a spark plug wire).

The other has your 12v feed in it. IIRC, the yellow wire in there should have a constant 12v with key on.
 
bp71k5 said:
And the injector are spraying fuel, not dribbling or pouring in, correct?

I’d take a spark plug out, keep the wire on it and touch the metal body of the plug to the head while the motor turns over and see if it sparks. Obviously be careful if you had gas in one of the cylinders. Gas+spark=fire.

This guy up there types faster than me.
Click to expand...
@Wes Harden

Alright!
Good news is she runs! I went off a lim and put a new distributor cap and rotor on since it was just sitting in my place. I put a MSD cap/rotor.

Now she sounds like shes idling high, and A TON of white smoke is coming from the pipe. See the videos below. My foot wasn’t on the accelerator except for giving it a push or two to try and clear out the smoke.

What’s the cause here? Think the gas built up in the cylinder hear from all the attempts of starting it is sitting and burning off? then mixing with oil somewhere?
an oil change to fix that?
Probably not safe to drive like that?
I can see the finish line! (Hopefully)
 

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jteck10 said:
@Wes Harden

Alright!
Good news is she runs! I went off a lim and put a new distributor cap and rotor on since it was just sitting in my place. I put a MSD cap/rotor.

Now she sounds like shes idling high, and A TON of white smoke is coming from the pipe. See the videos below. My foot wasn’t on the accelerator except for giving it a push or two to try and clear out the smoke.

What’s the cause here? Think the gas built up in the cylinder hear from all the attempts of starting it is sitting and burning off? then mixing with oil somewhere?
an oil change to fix that?
Probably not safe to drive like that?
I can see the finish line! (Hopefully)
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Check the timing to make sure you didn’t bump it while messing with the distributor but it looks like mine did when I had gas leaking past the injectors into the motor. Do you have a big cam as well? Firing order sounds like it could be off if it’s a stock cam. My guess is Too much fuel.
 
bp71k5 said:
Check the timing to make sure you didn’t bump it while messing with the distributor but it looks like mine did when I had gas leaking past the injectors into the motor. Do you have a big cam as well? Firing order sounds like it could be off if it’s a stock cam. My guess is Too much fuel.
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ah geez, now i have to research how to check the timing
no cam in it - firing order as far as spark plug wires to distributor cap?
 
Wes Harden said:
Just check the wires are right.
Is easy to mix up 5 and 7. And it'll run with those two swaoped
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We’ll thought this would be the victory lap. Went and checked the wires, 5 and 7 were swapped. Reinstalled all of them and she starts right up.
But she’s still idling real high and dumping white smoke. Do I let it run and hope it cycles through the old oil?
When I did the oil change and filter, the oil had a slight fuel smell to it. Not sure if it still needs to burn off?
Video for reference. In the video i don’t have my foot on the pedal at all
 

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Some white smoke on startup can be normal when water is allowed to condense in the exhaust. If it persists, can you smell antifreeze in it?

High idle in your case could be timing, since you’ve worked on the distributor. On a TBI, you need to set timing at 0 degrees while disabling ESC (there’s a connector you disconnect near the brake booster. Brown wire I think, it has a connector for this reason).

High idle could also be the IAC valve, but I wouldn’t check that until your timing is right.
 
SnackPack said:
Some white smoke on startup can be normal when water is allowed to condense in the exhaust. If it persists, can you smell antifreeze in it?

High idle in your case could be timing, since you’ve worked on the distributor. On a TBI, you need to set timing at 0 degrees while disabling ESC (there’s a connector you disconnect near the brake booster. Brown wire I think, it has a connector for this reason).

High idle could also be the IAC valve, but I wouldn’t check that until your timing is right.
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I have no idea how to set timing, I’ll have to dive in and see what I can find.
I thought the same thing about the antifreeze, smelled the pipe after and it doesn’t smell like it - hopefully that doesn’t mean a cracked head
I guess I’ll start with timing and hope the white smoke goes away
 
I can't view the vids but I can hear them. Is way to high idle. I think you have a vacuum leak, and possibly Idle air control motor, at minimum not set right (computer controlled).
Has the idle speed screw aka minimum air setting been changed recently?
The distributor is tight and not been moved ?
My 1st suspect would be tbi base gasket. and timing advance.
 
To check timing you will need a timing light, It has a clip that goes over plug #1 wire, when it fires it signals the light in the timing gun to flash. With vehicle running you will stand on the driver's side of the vehicle pointing the gun at the crank pulley (lower pulley on front of the engine) You will be pointing down at the top of the pulley about 2 oclock position. You will see a jagged metal piece and as the light flashes you will see a line on the pulley and you look at where it it on the zig zag piece of metal and that tells you what the timing is.

Before you disconnect the wire play around with using the timing gun to get familiar with it. I would do some searching on you tube and if you don't have a manual get one to look at. I am sure others will post up info too.
 
Wes Harden said:
I can't view the vids but I can hear them. Is way to high idle. I think you have a vacuum leak, and possibly Idle air control motor, at minimum not set right (computer controlled).
Has the idle speed screw aka minimum air setting been changed recently?
The distributor is tight and not been moved ?
My 1st suspect would be tbi base gasket. and timing advance.
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I’ll be honest with ya, if it’s the timing or a vacuum leak then that might be a bit over my head and it’s shop time.
I wonder if it’s worth replacing the idle air control valve? The idle speed screw hasn’t been touched throughout this process since I don’t even know where that is.
The new distributor is on tight, and the base gasket was just replaced
 
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