261 no start

[62stepside longbox]

Hi everyone I've been having some troubles starting my truck. Initially I thought it was the carb, so I put on a 2 barrel ( was going to do it anyways). After a while of messing around with it I got it to start with the two barrel. Ran fine, shut it off, fast forward a couple weeks and It won't start and the carb is leaking (it was free) so I took it off and completely cleaned the original carb and put that one on. Still wasn't firing sprayed some starting fluid down the manifold and still nothing. So it seems that now I'm getting no spark. After doing lots of testing with the multi-meter I concluded that the spark plugs are good, the coil is good and half of the spark plug wires are pretty bad, especially the one going from the coil to the distributor. So I put on a set of new plug wires and trying starting again but still nothing. Could the distributor be my problem? Any ideas what else could be wrong? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[Dans1960SWB]

Have you ever checked for spark? Pull a plug wire. Stick a screw driver in the end of the wire. Have someone turn it over. Watch for spark.

[SuperCtruck]

Originally Posted by dans1960swb

have you ever checked for spark? Pull a plug wire. Stick a screw driver in the end of the wire. Have someone turn it over. Watch for spark.

x2

[TJ's Chevy]

Clean your points bud! I'll bet that's your main problem.

[62stepside longbox]

Ok thanks guys I'll try both suggestions today

[maxwoof]

You said the cap to coil wire is possibly bad - that could be your problem there. With the ignition on, cap off, coil wire plugged in coil, other end held close to a ground, you can test it. If you open and close the points manually, a nice blue spark should jump from the coil wire to a ground. If it does, then your problem is in the cap/wires/plugs, and the coil/distributior is working (assuming points are gapped correctly). If no spark jumps, check coil/distributor components first.

Another simple test is to pull all the plugs, lay them on the engine hooked up to the wires, and crank it over. You should see all of them sparking blue. Be careful of gas/fumes if you do this.

When I got my truck, the 235 would not start - turned out to be a few of the plugs were bad.

Hope this helps - good luck with it.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by Dans1960SWB

Have you ever checked for spark? Pull a plug wire. Stick a screw driver in the end of the wire. Have someone turn it over. Watch for spark.

Ok I tried this and all 6 cylinder are getting a spark. So makes the carb look like the culprit but I have cleaned so well. When I try starting it there is no firing but the carb fills up and if I give it gas I can see fuel squirting into the manifold. I'm getting a fuel and spark so I would think it would at least do something but I can turn it over as much as I want and nothing happens other than it flooding. Anyone have any theory's?

[akaupp]

What color is the spark?

[vince1]

X2 on opening and closing the points with the coil wire close to ground. It should zap really good that way.

My guess is that your coil or condenser is going bad, or maybe even your points are grounding out some where. I've had all three happen to me. With the points, just by removing and re-installing them you might find a problem. Look for grey/black burnt areas at the top of the coil from the center post to the + and - terminals. I have found that the biggest enemy of condensers is age and an engine might have run good before it was shut off years before but in the present it might run really badly or not at all.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by vince1

X2 on opening and closing the points with the coil wire close to ground. It should zap really good that way.

My guess is that your coil or condenser is going bad, or maybe even your points are grounding out some where. I've had all three happen to me. With the points, just by removing and re-installing them you might find a problem. Look for grey/black burnt areas at the top of the coil from the center post to the + and - terminals. I have found that the biggest enemy of condensers is age and an engine might have run good before it was shut off years before but in the present it might run really badly or not at all.

I'll try to look into this after school today. What should I use to clean the points? really fine sandpaper?

[awbrown]

If you have spark at all the cylinders with the plugs lay on the block/valve cover , that dos not mean you have spark when they are in the cylinder .. if a plug has had too much fuel they may fire accross the gap outside , but under pressure they will not .. So try a new set of plugs but at the same time a weak coil will give the same symptoms , it may even try to run with the throttle blades closed at idle , but if you give it any gas it wont run .. ran into this with my pontiac once... so get a different coil and a new set of sparkplugs and give it a whirl .. I didn't see if you checked compression , but if it has sat a long time and the cylinders are dried out it would not hurt to squirt a shot of oil in each cylinder ...

[62stepside longbox]

Checked the points and they were super clean. One question though is there supposed to be grease between the distributor cam and the arm that rides on it? See the dark red glob in the pic below

[jtrichard]

IS your wiring still setup with hot start? And yes there should be a SMALL amount of grease on the cam

[TJ's Chevy]

After you clean your points check the gap and make sure they are around .016 to .018...if they are to far apart you'll get a weak spark that'll act way to far advanced. Maybe try to retard the timing a bit?

[62stepside longbox]

Hey guys, I got the truck started up today. It ran really rough and not for too long because I noticed the carb was pouring gas. Video: http://youtu.be/K9Ab9QcJN4w. Any advise?

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks like your float isn't doing anything to stop fuel flow. It's either stuck or the needle and seat are no good.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Looks like your float isn't doing anything to stop fuel flow. It's either stuck or the needle and seat are no good.

That's what I thought but when i recently took the carb apart the need and seat were clean and the rubber was in good shape and it didn't seem to stick

[ACK]

Don't want ya' chasing gremlins, but if you decide the issue is somewhere else, take a look at the engine's timing. GM made harmonic balancers with marks at 2, 2:30, and 12 o'clock, if the balancer was replaced with the wrong year, your real timing could be way off. Another possible issue is the harmonic balancer is separating. To test it, place a mark on the rubber part below the timing mark and hit it with a timing light. If it appears to be moving separately from your timing mark, time for a new balancer. The upside, confirming these aren't part of the problem takes under an hour.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by ACK

Don't want ya' chasing gremlins, but if you decide the issue is somewhere else, take a look at the engine's timing. GM made harmonic balancers with marks at 2, 2:30, and 12 o'clock, if the balancer was replaced with the wrong year, your real timing could be way off. Another possible issue is the harmonic balancer is separating. To test it, place a mark on the rubber part below the timing mark and hit it with a timing light. If it appears to be moving separately from your timing mark, time for a new balancer. The upside, confirming these aren't part of the problem takes under an hour.

Thanks for the suggestions but I don't think it's the timing. It was running smoothly during the summer and the timing wasn't messed with. Tomorrow I'll let it warm up with the choke on and see if it'll idle with the choke off.

[ACK]

I read TJ's reply and I'm curious, have you done a vacuum test recently?

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by ACK

I read TJ's reply and I'm curious, have you done a vacuum test recently?

No I have not. It has brand new gaskets on the carb and manifolds but I'm thinking that it could still be a vaccum leak. I'll do a test tomorrow if I have time.

[62stepside longbox]

Hi everyone here's an update. its Starting now but still not running right I just can't take the choke off even if it's warmed up and it's super loud. Here's a video to explain http://youtu.be/tsGegjKaos8 thanks