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Won't start after a winter's worth or repairs: Eye candy while I wait for parts

Do you have a second filter in line anywhere?

The filter that you can see does not look bad. It looks like it is pumping air. Maybe a gas line break somewhere. Check your gas lines for breaks or leaks, also check your oil and smell for gas (sometimes when mechanical pumps fail it will dump the gas in your oil).
 
huh, i'll check things over. just started raining so it'll have to wait. thanks for the tips.
 
OK, somebody else listen to that video. I'm listening to it on a netbook with weak speakers and I'm too tired from a fishing trip and too lazy to dig up the necessary connections to hook it to my stereo system.

Listen to the starter when it cranks the last time. That high pitched warble sounds like the starter is stuck in gear.
Unless he was using starter to keep it running.

And yeah, there is somthing screwed up with that gas flow.

You get a couple of good pumps, which immediately flow past the filter, then not much after that.

If your battery is good and hot, you can pull the fuel hose off the carb, and let it pump into a bottle while you crank.
There are published standards for the amount of gas it should pump in a certain amount of time, plus the minumim pressure.

It looks like you were out of gas, it was sucking air from a hole between the tank and the pump, or the float was stuck and not allowing gas or air into the carb.

Since it runs at all, it should not be the float.

If you have some spare gas line, you can disconnect the line going to the engine mounted pump and hook up a 5 gallon can to see what happens.
 
if i were you, i would set the distributor back to where it was in the end of our video (or wherever it was when you had it running the last time) you know it will run in that position, so thats a good thing. i wouldn't play with it much more without looking over any other reasons why it is not running, or will only run for a short time.

also, watching that fuel filter tells me that something is wrong with either the fuel pump, or the sending unit/ gas line from the tank to the pump. it really looks to me like it is sucking air. do you have a mighty vac hand pump? if so, take the fuel line off your carb and hook the mighty vac to it and pump it up, see if it sucks any air in as well as fuel.

i don't know though, im just spitting out suggestions here.
 
A few things, first, your getting no fuel man! That filter should be about plum full at all times! And by full i mean full!!! Second, that was way alot of timing movement! THat was probably in the 30 degree range if not more! Infact, probably more like 50*! You only nedd to move the distributer(at the vac canister nipple) about 1/2-3/4 inch to get around 10* of timing movement! And theres a fairly narrow window where it will run right and thats somewheres between 5* and 15* advance timing or BTDC. Third, it sound like something s hitting the fan.
 
ok, there's a lot to reply to so here it goes:

yeah, the whine does sound like the starter might stay engaged. any good way to check? i pulled it off, cleaned the connections and body, and put it back they way it was, but i might have screwed something up. also my alternator squeaks when i turn it by hand (belt off) so that might be it as well.

i don't have any fuel hose or vacuum pump, but i might go out and buy something. if i connect the pump to a gas can, what do i do with the return line? just leave it connected to the tank? also, does anyone know what volume per minute or whatever the pump should be pushing?

that timing adjustment in the video was from the position where the rotor was at #1 at TDC (not running) to where it did run (35*BTDC). i seem to have the timing issue mostly resolved, but i guess i'll know more if i can keep it running for more than a minute. also, the fans are electric, and i never got to the temp where they turned on. i think that noise is the wind blowing across the mic on my camera.

so, if it turns out to not be the fuel pump, where should i start to look for an air leak? is it likely that the lines have a hole or should i start with the tank/sending unit and work forward from there?
 
Im really willing to bet that your "timing issue" has alot more to do with your fuel issue then anything else but i could be high.
 
well, being off 35* was more than a lack of fuel. i was definitely off a distributor gear tooth or two. now that i've seen it run at 10*, i know that i'm at least close.

thanks for everyone's help so far. let's hope this doesn't last too much longer
 
OK, first, I did not even know that model had a return line.
But, then I own Fords.....

It should be fine to let it return to the tank, or you could just run it to the can you are using.
Either way, its a test, you're not going to be driving it around like that..........You're not me in the swamp with a hole knocked in your gas tank......

The alt squeak might easily be the noise, but it sure sounds like the starter.
If it is, you will find out the first time you rev the engine up. It will sling the windings out of the armature.
You can imagine how I know that.

You can figure out why its binding, but its a PIA.

I assume its a standard GM starter with the solenoid on top.
You can remove the solenoid, either with the starter on the truck or take it off and put it back on without the solenoid.

If you take the starter off, hook a ground to it, and briefly hook a hot lead to the S terminal on the solenoid.
The Bendix (Gear inside the end of the starter) should snap back and forth freely

There is a round hollow piece that goes up inside the solenoid that engages the starter when you turn on the solenoid.
After you get the starter on without the solenoid, pull that piece back and see if the Bendix engages the flywheel smoothly, and disengages it smoothly.

A little roughness on the engage, is OK, but it should slide out easy when you push forward on the piece.
In other words, that spring inside the solenoid should be plenty strong enough to push it back and disengage the starter.
If you did not find one inside there, you have found the problem.

If it binds on the release, and the binding is not in the starter linkage, then you may need to shim the starter one way or the other.

Assuming, of course, that the gears look OK when you take it off.
 
You can check the fuel line for cracks in several places,

1) coming of the tank, there is short distance of rubber lines
2) on passenger frame rail between trans and the rear wheel is a small section of rubber lines
3) fuel pump on the block

if the lines and pump are good, then maybe the pick up in the tank.
 
Most GM starters have a small hole in the bottom of them right behind the nose,that you can insert a skinny screwdriver into,and use it to push the starter drive towards the flywheel--I've done this to keep the starter drive gear meshed with the flywhhel to measure the clearance between the gear & flywheel,and you can do that and let to of the screwdriver and see if the solenoid spring is releasing the starter drive like its supposed too--it should snal back pretty firmly..
 
ok, so the starter looks fine. the gears were disengaged when i pulled it, the starter gear actuates smoothly, and the spring keeping it back if firm. i keep hearing about shimming the starter, but i don't understand where i would put shims and what they would do for me.
 
i also tested the fuel pump. it's shot. i pulled it and now i'm looking for a replacement. how much should i expect to pay for a normal replacement that will last? it looks like i can buy those chromed street racing ones for $100+ or a cast aluminum one like i've got now for $20-30. can i trust the cheap ones?
 
get the cheap one. at least you know it will work, and resolve one (or all) of your problems.

the starter shims are only needed if the gears of the starter and flywheel are not meshing properly. you put the shims on top of the starter, where it screws into the block. sometimes you only need half a shim. but if you aren't experiencing any problems with it for sure, i wouldn't shim it.
 
sounds good. i'll just put the starter back as is and pinpoint the noise once it's running right.

thanks for the help everybody. i hope everything goes smoothly from here.
 
Look for that hole Diesel4me mentioned. If yours has it, you need to test the engagement with it on the truck.
That is when you will see if you need a shim or not.
Its hard to tell, that noise certainly could be the alt., or something else, but it sounds like classic stuck starter.

You could also check it after you put it on and before you hook up all the wires.

If you leave that tab or heavy wire going from the solenoid to the starter disconnected, you can turn the key back and forth from start and listen for the clunk.
There should be a heavy clunk when you turn to start, and a slightly quieter one when you let go.

If it only clunks once, you have a problem.
 
As a general rule of thumb, if you have a choice between a chromed mechanical part and a regular one..........
Go regular.
Not only are you paying for a few microns of shiny metal on a regular part, but almost always the chromed parts are substandard.
 
Also, you could try un doing the alternator belt and starting it then to confirm or dispel the alternator as a source of noise.
 
Checking the flywheel to starter drive clearance can be done several ways,but the easiest way I've found is to use a 1/8" allen wrench as a gauge,just stick it between the shaft the starter drive slides on (armature ) and the outer edge of the teeth on the flywheel,it should just fit with a slight drag...too much clearance will make the teeth chip and break,too little might make the drive gear get stuck in the flywheel or make a loud "whooop" when it releases...adding a full shim cross both bolts increases the clearance,adding half a shim under only the outer bolt reduces the clearance...
I have had some starters that were so far away I had to FILE the nose pad down where it bolts against the block before!...
 
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