Bad gas? And a long story....I need help.

[Slammed70]

What are some symptoms of bad gas/water in the tank?

As some of you know, Ive been doing this motor swap since last October....only working on it an hour or two a week between the jobs. And I pushed it out of the garage one night to put some brakes on the old ladies car, and didnt bother to push it back in because Im lazy.

Well, in the mean time....its rained, snowed, melted, snowed, and snowed some more all while the truck was sitting outside without a hood. In my laziness I didnt cover the fuel line or anything. Im wondering if a bunch of water and **** didnt get down in there?

The truck was also out of gas too by the way if that matters at all.

Tonight, I fired it up.....tried to anyway. Im getting spark sometimes, and getting some gas(filling the clear filter anyways). It cranks over, tries to start, but wont. So Im wondering if theres moister in the line from what I described above? Or is my timing off? I put her at TDC number one, dropped the distributor pointing at number one. Cant get it started to see how close I am.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mitch-

[odog]

I left the hoos off mine when I power washed he motor before I pulled it out. Left it outside that night, the next morning no fire. Pulled it to the shop, pushed it into the bay and let it sit for a few hours, tried again and it started. lesson learned, water somehow gets into the distributor. Not saying this is deffinatly your problem, but worth checking. I even sprayed WD40 into the cap and nothing, it was cold enough outside that the WD wouldn't disapate the water. Inside the heated shop, thawed it out enough for the WD to do its job I guess. Maybe the answer.

[Slammed70]

The distributors newish....and it sat in the engine with a cover over it for 90% of the time.

[Slammed70]

Any other ideas?

[MrBeast]

If you have water in the fuel, it will show up in the clear filter, unless it is all water. but usually you can see the difference very apparently. Somthing else to consider is if you are using a Quadrajet, you need to remove the stock filter from it. Also you might have your distributor 180 out.

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by MrBeast

If you have water in the fuel, it will show up in the clear filter, unless it is all water. but usually you can see the difference very apparently. Somthing else to consider is if you are using a Quadrajet, you need to remove the stock filter from it. Also you might have your distributor 180 out.

Filter is a yellowish color, and we tried the distributor at 180, switched it back because we werent getting nothing, where were at now the truck is atleast trying to start.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by Slammed70

Filter is a yellowish color, and we tried the distributor at 180, switched it back because we werent getting nothing, where were at now the truck is atleast trying to start.

Gasoline and Water do not mix, if the truck sits they will seperate, if your fuel has that yellowish tinge to it, it means you are getting gas, also when you look down the carb, and you roll the throttle open, is it squirting gas down into the engine?

[MrBeast]

Also, one more thought, did you rebuild this engine, or did you ever remove the rockers, or timing chain?

[haysonj]

Try spraying starting fluid in the breather while you turn it over if it fires then you have a fuel problem if not its probably electrical

[72armyswbtruck]

I was going to suggest hooking up a can of gas to the carb run a fuel line to the gas can to feed the fuel into the carb.
Also before doing this you can try using starter fluid down the carb.
If with the starter fluid it cranks but then stops, most likely it is fuel.
If it cranks using the gas can method and stays running then you know it is a fuel issue.
BTW
Is this HEI or points?
If HEI, check that the ECM has die electric grease under it, also you can take the ECM (which is what the wires connect to in the distributor) to Autozone or Napa and have it tested.
Good Luck
Keep us posted

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by 72armyswbtruck

If with the starter fluid it cranks but then stops, most likely it is fuel.

Is this HEI or points?

It wont even start....and its HEI

Originally Posted by MrBeast

Also, one more thought, did you rebuild this engine, or did you ever remove the rockers, or timing chain?

Yeay, its all new

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by Slammed70

It wont even start....and its HEI



Yeay, its all new

ok, I dont know your level of mechanicing expertise, so I am going to spell this out as to what I would check if some one had brought your truck to me. First when replacing a cam, you absolutely have to get the timing chain in the right position, there will be 2 dots one on each gear in the timing chain set, they have to point to each other, if not, the truck will do exactally what yours is now because the cam will be out of time.

As well once the engine is reasembeled, youhave to set the valve lash. I found a good article on how to do so here

Once you have lashed the valves, rotate the engine so your timing mark is indicating that #1 is @ TDC, with both valves CLOSED mind you, and then you should be set to fire.

If you have any more questions on it, feel free to contact me directly.

[Longhorn Man]

Tonight, I fired it up.....tried to anyway. Im getting spark sometimes, and getting some gas(filling the clear filter anyways). It cranks over, tries to start, but wont.

So, it's getting fuel, but the spark is only sometimes.
I'd start looking into the spark.

[cdowns]

when you say it was at TDC installing the dizzy did you make sure it was the compression stroke?

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by cdowns

when you say it was at TDC installing the dizzy did you make sure it was the compression stroke?

We've turned it 180, that didnt do anything for us...will it still get that "wanting to start but just wont" sound if its 180 off?

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

So, it's getting fuel, but the spark is only sometimes.
I'd start looking into the spark.

Im thinking that might be the spark tester were using too, not sure though.

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by Slammed70

What are some symptoms of bad gas/water in the tank?

As some of you know, Ive been doing this motor swap since last October....only working on it an hour or two a week between the jobs. And I pushed it out of the garage one night to put some brakes on the old ladies car, and didnt bother to push it back in because Im lazy.

Well, in the mean time....its rained, snowed, melted, snowed, and snowed some more all while the truck was sitting outside without a hood. In my laziness I didnt cover the fuel line or anything. Im wondering if a bunch of water and **** didnt get down in there?

The truck was also out of gas too by the way if that matters at all.

Tonight, I fired it up.....tried to anyway. Im getting spark sometimes, and getting some gas(filling the clear filter anyways). It cranks over, tries to start, but wont. So Im wondering if theres moister in the line from what I described above? Or is my timing off? I put her at TDC number one, dropped the distributor pointing at number one. Cant get it started to see how close I am.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mitch-

To start from scratch, let's check your install: These are just questions to ponder

Did the motor run before install, or is it a rebuild? Are you sure the cam is installed right and the valves are adjusted correctly? (If you didn't have the adjustment right it will all stop here) Did you get everything bolted up tight? Did you really have the #1 cylinder on TDC, when you dropped the dizzy? Does the fuel pump work right? Have you thought about flushing the fuel line with fresh gas and a vacuum testing tool? Does the engine try to start if you squirt a little gas into the carb as you try to start? (this could define where your problems are---ignition or fuel). Do you have a good spark at the plugs? Is your coil and dizzy good?

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Did the motor run before install, or is it a rebuild? Are you sure the cam is installed right and the valves are adjusted correctly? (If you didn't have the adjustment right it will all stop here) Did you get everything bolted up tight? Did you really have the #1 cylinder on TDC, when you dropped the dizzy? Does the fuel pump work right? Have you thought about flushing the fuel line with fresh gas and a vacuum testing tool? Does the engine try to start if you squirt a little gas into the carb as you try to start? (this could define where your problems are---ignition or fuel). Do you have a good spark at the plugs? Is your coil and dizzy good?

Its a rebuid, Im 99% sure the cams installed right. And Im 99% sure number one was at TDC. Flushing the fuel system wasnt even a thought until now, just hooked everything up in a hurry to get it back on the road. Fuel pump, and coil are all new. The engine trys to start, it just wont. Doesnt matter if I dump gas directly into the carb or not.

I just cant get this one figured out....

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by Slammed70

Its a rebuid, Im 99% sure the cams installed right. And Im 99% sure number one was at TDC. Flushing the fuel system wasnt even a thought until now, just hooked everything up in a hurry to get it back on the road. Fuel pump, and coil are all new. The engine trys to start, it just wont. Doesnt matter if I dump gas directly into the carb or not.

I just cant get this one figured out....

If you dump fuel into the carb and the engine tries, but does not stat, then you are having problems outside of the fuel line. I would start with the timing (just to be safe), then I would look at the coil for a check (even if it is new) Are you using an HEI distributor unit? If so, have you checked the pickup coil and the module in it? Are the plug wires on the right posts?

[MrBeast]

Just a thought, but if you got a reman distributor, there is a possibility that could be your issue, I know I have had 2 of em that came from summit that were total ****e, and one that came from a parts house...

I would check that out.

[89 crew]

Just to make you feel better about your situation, we had a ford 391 a few years ago that we put a rebuilt engine in. everything went in like it should and no matter what we did we couldn't get it to start. for 3 days we fought that pos. on the 4th day walked out hit the key and it started up. never had that problem again till the engine died 3 years later.

Check your plugs, make sure they are not fouled then give it a fresh gas shot one more time. If it still won't run start checking ignition components. Input voltage to distributer would be a good place to look. check the cap is making contact to the rotor, and posts inside cap to outputs. You also might have the module tested.

[Slammed70]

[QUOTE=piecesparts;2573622] I would start with the timing (just to be safe),QUOTE]

How would I check/set that prior to start up

[Luvlegs]

newly converted to HEI? Good solid 12v run to it? - not the original points power supply wiring correct?

[72gord]

Have you tried moving the distributor (change timing) as you crank it? Might just be off a few degres if it is trying to start. If it is trying to start I would assume you have spark and fuel, maybe just not at the right time. Good luck

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by Luvlegs

newly converted to HEI? Good solid 12v run to it? - not the original points power supply wiring correct?

It had already been converted to HEI when I bought it, from what it looks like...its a 10ga wire running from the fuse block to the distributor.

[Premium72]

sounds like your dizzy mighta got soaked. take a look tear it aprt , have it tested. look into it.