Truck won't start!

[Sooner1970_K10]

Last night I got home and tried to start my truck. It acted like it wanted to start but didnt. Then the fuel smell. I assume its flooded and wait a couple of hours and try again. I did this a couple of times last night with no luck. Each time I attempted to start the truck, whether I was stepping on the gas or not I would smell a strong gas smell after it had turned over several times.

This morning I tried to start it without touching the gas peddle. The battery was worn down some so I hooked some jumper cables to it. Let it charge and tried again. Once again the strong gas smell. It turns over strong and gives the little haltering sound like its about to start but doesnt.

What should I do to trouble shoot this problem or is there a way to get a flooded truck to start?

If the fuel filter was dirty would I get a gas smell but maybe not enough to start the truck or what?

[Russell]

How strong is your spark? If you are still running points, it may be time to swap over to HEI. It only takes three things to get an engine to run -- fuel, air and spark. I assume you've got air, and obviously fuel, so that just leaves spark to be bad If you do go HEI, I highly suggest new plug wires and plugs. Check the FAQ for more information about swapping an HEI in, and post on the 73-87 parts board to get one dirt cheap

[bpmcgee]

Sounds like you're not getting spark. Did you check if the power lead had fallen off the distributor? Happens to me sometimes.

Brian

[72K10]

If you've got fuel, it must be fire. You can take off the air breather and pump the gas at the carb to see if fuel is squirting. More than likely it is. If it is, then you're problem is likely in the ignition. Check to see if you're getting spark to the plugs by pulling one and grounding it to the block while someone turns over the engine. You should see (or feel) the spark. If not, it could be the ignition module in your HEI, or points need adjusted if you have a regular distributor. Could be a loose wire at distributor, or at fuse box if HEI.

[mrein3]

Before you throw any parts at it do the following:
Charge the battery real good.
Then get in and push the gas pedal ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR AND HOLD IT THERE while you crank the starter.

It may just be flooded. If this doesn't work then start looking for broken parts.

[dwaite72lnghrn]

If it got a strong smell of gas without pushing the pedal I would look for a bad float in the carb causing a too rich condition. You can have spark and to much gas and it will just sputter and not fire up. I would also pull the dipstick and smell the oil you could have a fuel pump going bad and leaking. just something else to look at.

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by Sooner1970_K10

Last night I got home and tried to start my truck. It acted like it wanted to start but didnt. Then the fuel smell. I assume its flooded and wait a couple of hours and try again. ?

You may have a small piece of dirt under the float needle if it floods. I doubt that a dirty fuel filter is the problem because you wouldn't get any gas or very little to the carb. Is it a Quadrajet? they had a plastic float in some years and they would get fuel soaked and cause flooding.Just do the basics and check for ignition first. The plugs may have wet fouled but it would be unlikely that all 8 would not fire at the same time. Like Dwaite said, watch that your oil doesn't get too diluted with fuel.
VetteVet