Wont start and Stutters

[Twister]

I have an 85 B2, auto with duraspark.

On the way home from work, i got half way and my truck would start to stutter if i gave it some gas, i had to limp home going around 10 - 15 mph. I got it home and i was not able to restart it. I was able to get it started later in the day to show my brother, but was able to get it started after that. He thought i should replace the fuel filter because i have ran it dry a few times.

Well today i went to change the filter, i disconnected it from the carb and the line would not stop leaking gas, every other time i have disconnected the line it would leak about 1/2 cup then stop.

So i got the new filter put on and it wouldn't start. It would crank and crank but not fire. I finally got it start and it puffed to life, while it was starting up it wold puff smoke out the top of the carb.

I can get it to start if i crank it for a minute then it will run, still stutter at higher rpm's, and then wont start it i shut it off.

 

[unoleisu]

It sounds similar to a problem I had with my 85 BII. The excellerator pump was the problem with mine. It is a small square rubber diaphram inside a cover on the front of the carberator. The accelerator cable connects to some linkage that operates a sort of lever which pushes on the acelerator pump (rubber diaphram). It wears out sometimes and needs to be replaced. I would suggest at least taking a look at it. You will probably need to change it anyway they tend to go out.... usually they get a small tear in them that quickly gets worse, and causes issues like you discribed. I think I payed around $8 for the last one I got....it was 5-6 yrs ago, though.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Smell your dipstick also if it smells like fuel it could be the power valve in the carb. Pull the short vacuum hose from the power valve cover to the intake egr spacer if it has fuel in it the power valve is bad or loose. Also the float might be bad or the needle has a chunk of crap in it keeping it from closing all the way. A carb rebuild might be in order. Confirm timing and spark. Put a spark plug in the coil wire off the dizzy and set it on a good ground then crank on it you should have a steady brite blue spark.

 

[Twister]

I just rebuilt it with a kit from the parts store. I have spark because i can get it to start after cranking it for a bit.

 

[Twister]

Ok so i am now at a dead end again. I have replaced the fuel filter, bought a carb kit and replaced the gaskets in the carb, blew out the small passages with canned air, replaced the power valve and accelerator pump. I also pulled all my spark plugs to make sure they are not fouled and they were not.

I got it to drive down the street but if i give it any sort of gas it would stutter and then i backfired. My brother thought maybe it is starving for gas, but that would not explain the backfire.

:sad:

 

[azbronco2]

sounds like a timing problem

 

[Twister]

sounds like a timing problem

I guess i will check that on sat, got school tomorrow. Someone on another forum suggested i check my mechanical fuel pump, how would i go about doing that?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Pull the fuel ine off the carb and stick it in a jar and crank on the engine. Pull the coil wire so it dont start. All you need is a good steady flow. Are you doing a wet float adjustment. Pull the top off the carb and measure the fuel level in the float bowl. Measure the center of the fuel in the bowl not the edge. You want 3/4 of an inch from the top of the bowl to the center of the fuel You can also run the engine with the top off the carb but if it is spitting fire not a good idea. You can take some fuel out of the bowl with a rag or baseter or somthing disconnect the coil wire and crank on it and see where it stops filling then measure the level. I just use a vernier caliper depth guage to get it close enough. Have you surfaced the base of the carb glue some 180 grit to a flat board makes a pretty good mill. Are you using a 2150 or 2100 carb if so spacer number felpro 60529 will fix the vacuum leak on the base of the carb. I has a gasket on both sides but is real hard put another gasket between the carb and spacer and just snug it good dont over tighten the carb down. After a few warm ups snug it again. Also did you put a new egr gasket in when you capped it off it needs the high temp gasket or it will eventually leak also. Let us know what you find out. GL

 

[Twister]

Pull the fuel ine off the carb and stick it in a jar and crank on the engine. Pull the coil wire so it dont start. All you need is a good steady flow. Are you doing a wet float adjustment. Pull the top off the carb and measure the fuel level in the float bowl. Measure the center of the fuel in the bowl not the edge. You want 3/4 of an inch from the top of the bowl to the center of the fuel You can also run the engine with the top off the carb but if it is spitting fire not a good idea. You can take some fuel out of the bowl with a rag or baseter or somthing disconnect the coil wire and crank on it and see where it stops filling then measure the level. I just use a vernier caliper depth guage to get it close enough. Have you surfaced the base of the carb glue some 180 grit to a flat board makes a pretty good mill. Are you using a 2150 or 2100 carb if so spacer number felpro 60529 will fix the vacuum leak on the base of the carb. I has a gasket on both sides but is real hard put another gasket between the carb and spacer and just snug it good dont over tighten the carb down. After a few warm ups snug it again. Also did you put a new egr gasket in when you capped it off it needs the high temp gasket or it will eventually leak also. Let us know what you find out. GL

What do you mean by spitting fire. The backfire was though the exhaust. I did get that spacer when i did my duraspark conversion. I will have to look into the float adjustment.

 

[Twister]

Well i am still stuck. I checked the fuel pump and timing. The fuel pump delivered lots of fuel with very little cranking and the timing was right at 12 btdc, which is were i set it. I can get the truck to start if i crank it for like 5 minutes.

I am out of ideas

 

[Twister]

Any one got any ideas. I have spark coming off of the coil and from the dizzy. I have tried starter fluid and they did nothing. Holding the gas while cranking yielded no results. I have taken all the plugs out and cranked it a few times to vent the fuel and I am leaving the plus out till tomorrow.

It just cranks and cranks and cranks cranks with no results :sad:

 

[Twister]

Well after flooding the engine, i pulled the plugs and cranked it a few times to air out the cylinders and let it sit over night. I redid some of my connextions for the duraspark conversion, and put back in the plugs.

I cranked it and nothing :sad:

So i pumped the gas and cranked it, it made a pop in the exhaust but nothing loud, so i kept cranking and it did it again, so i i shrugged it off. Cranked it some more and BOOM .

So does that mean i have spark?

What else could it be??? :sad::sad:

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Is there fuel in the oil sniff the dipstick. Is the rotor on # 1 plug wire when put # 1 cyl on tdc on the compression stroke. How was the wet float adjustment when you pulled the top off the carb. Are you holding the skinny pedal all the way to the floor when your cranking on it. Put your timing light on coil wire while cranking you will see if it is in time and it will tell you if all the plugs are firing. Maybe someone here that knows the 2.8 can help you hammer it out. It is impossible to help you with very little info on what is going on. Did you pull the plugs and are they wet. If they are wet take a lighter and see if it burns maybe you have water in the tank. pull the fuel line off the carb and fill a glass jar half full of fuel and see if there is any water in the bottom of the jar.
#1 check the timing is at 10 dbtdc with the advance disconnected and plug the vacuum hose.
#2 look in the carb as you open the throttle is the accelerator pump working. and is your choke all the way open.
#3 push the pedal all the way to the floor and crank on it. adjust the choke for now all the way open cold until you get it running good and make the idle air adjustment. I bet it is somthing simple your just overlooking. GL

 

[Twister]

Could my plugs be the problem. They are black, not dripping in oil but lots of carbon deposits.

 

[Twister]

Still cant figure this out. My oil has a slight smell of gas but nothing strong. How many ohms should i get when test my plug wires. I got about 5k to 10k ohms out of the wires. I cant find more than one source that has the same recommended ohms.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If you have doubts on the wires just change them with some good low resistance wires autolites work just fine. A new set of plugs autolite single platinum a cap and rotor and PCV then you dont have to question those items. Have you capped off the egr valve ports with a plate. Just give it a good tune up first turn the idle air out three turns and then time it at 10 degrees with the vacuum advance disconnected. Until you do these things in order nothing can be done here. Your just trying to fix it without doing anything always change the PCV when you change the plugs.

 

[Twister]

If you have doubts on the wires just change them with some good low resistance wires autolites work just fine. A new set of plugs autolite single platinum a cap and rotor and PCV then you dont have to question those items. Have you capped off the egr valve ports with a plate. Just give it a good tune up first turn the idle air out three turns and then time it at 10 degrees with the vacuum advance disconnected. Until you do these things in order nothing can be done here. Your just trying to fix it without doing anything always change the PCV when you change the plugs.

Well i am going to be changing the plugs and wire tomorrow. Ill check back with what i find out. When i capped off the EGR i used a new gasket.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

plugs, wires, cap and rotor, PCV, eliminate those variables when beginning any diagnostic. confirm you have spark using the timing light put it on the coil wire and shine it on something dark while you cranking on it if it flashes steady shine it on the marks you can still time it off the coil wire also but put it on the #1 plug and see if it is in time even if it dont start. Then you know the spark is good and it is either vacuum or fuel.

 

[Twister]

plugs, wires, cap and rotor, PCV, eliminate those variables when beginning any diagnostic. confirm you have spark using the timing light put it on the coil wire and shine it on something dark while you cranking on it if it flashes steady shine it on the marks you can still time it off the coil wire also but put it on the #1 plug and see if it is in time even if it dont start. Then you know the spark is good and it is either vacuum or fuel.

Well i didn't see this before i went to the parts store. I got new motorcraft plugs and the store brand wires. It didn't do anything at first but i eventually got it to start up. It ran for a bit and i tried re hooking up the vacuum advance but it died. I got it to start again and it ran for about 20 minutes, while running it would idle fine but every 20 sec it would act like it was out of gas. It eventually died so i put more gas in and it would not crank because the battery was dieing.

Also when trying to start the truck it will puff smoke out the top of the carburetor.

So can a dieing battery cause the truck to not fire and run right?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

It wouldnt hurt to have a fully charged battery it will ruin the alternator or regulator to charge a real low or dead battery. So you know it runs and did you confirm the timing was locked in at 10 degrees. If you dont have a timing light get one fully charge the battery. Are the idle air screws out three turn from the lightly seated position. Once you confirm the timing is locked in then we can go from there. You cannot get it right without a light.