Ford F150 - started for 1 second, then died.

coolcasemods · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject: started for 1 second, then died.

Alright so i finished my ongoing epic battle with the brakes. lovely 2 months working on them and finally they work correctly.

in this 2 month time frame, i started the truck once every couple days to keep everything tip top shape

THEN i went on vacation for 2 weeks... get back and i cant start the truck. that wasnt my main concern at the time (it was the darn brakes..) so i didnt bother charging the battery (which was low)

so tonight, after getting the brakes bled... get my dad to jump my truck. after a couple trys she starts up. WONDERFUL right? starts and then dies immediately.

Pulled out the carb cleaner and spray it over the carb

started again and then died.

tried to start... just turning over

carb cleaner again tries really hard to start but wont.

this process went on for about 30 minutes and we finally gave up... i looked in the book and it is under trouble shooting... but their are a few different variables it says could be wrong... and im pretty much broke to spend any more money 'guessing' at what the problem is.

thanks in advance!

-poor highschool student

Malibutommy · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject:

Well if it won't run on carb cleaner, chances are you have a spark problem. Take off your coil wire and get a spark tester and see if you have spark coming out of your coil (or you could just put the wire near a ground source on the engine and see if spark jumps to the ground source but that method isn't necessarily advised)... I have seen a lot of cars and trucks that have sat for a while and the coil has gone bad from just not being used. If you don't have spark, make sure you are getting power and ground to the coil, if it is getting power and not putting out spark, you need a coil. If you aren't getting power or ground, there is a problem in the circuit.

If that isn't it you can check to see if you have good fuel pressure (probably not it though if it won't run on carb cleaner) and check your compression. Check it out and let us know. Hope this helps

coolcasemods · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:26 pm Post subject:

well i wasnt being TOO generous with the carb cleaner as my neighbor set his caddilac on fire the other day using the stuff... but when we sprayed the carb cleaner is when it would start...i read on another forum that i need to check if im squirting gas... so i will mess with the linkage and the distributor like you say tomorrow... i just need to get the thing RUNNING!!

thanks for the quick reply

coolcasemods · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject:

also i am going to check the choke.. because when i hit the gas it should open, correct? well it doesnt really do anything when i hit the pedal...

Malibutommy · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject:

Open your throttle and look down into the carb and you should see gas squirting into the intake (I'm assuming thats what the other site said to do?). Is it electric choke or manual? If its electric, it should open when you turn the key on. If its manual, you should depress the gas pedal to the floor and let off about halfway up before you start it and the choke should be open then. The choke probably wouldn't cause the problem your talking about.

If it runs on carb cleaner, you have a fuel problem. Take the hose off the carb and have someone turn the engine over and you should get gas coming out of it. If not, your pump is probably bad. If you do have gas from the hose, you have a carb problem. Hope this helps

coolcasemods · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject:

yes it does, thank you very much

now just gotta wait for day break. i should invest in some floodlights so i can work on it all night

lol

screwon23s · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:09 am Post subject:

coil?

coolcasemods · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:19 am Post subject:

im not to familiar with the mechanics of vehicles but im learning... what is your thinking on the coil? i dont even know what that is to be truthful

greens · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:08 am Post subject:

If your truck was running before you went on holidays and your truck has been sitting for 2 months I would say the gas in your tank may have gone bad. Get some fresh gas and pour some down the carb and see if it starts, if it does I would drian out the old gas and put some new in. Sometimes what helps is putting some gas line anti-freeze in this will take out the water that may be in the system.

patches_dixon · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:01 am Post subject:

I have a 1983 ford F150 302 5.0L. I had this simular problem when I first got it(pulled it out of the woods, had been sitting up for over 3 yrs.) I could get to run on the gas I put in the carb, but it would die. You have a manual fuel pump. I trooble shooted and changed the fuel pump($14.00). It started up and has been running every since.

...When you take it off they have a small pin hole on the diaphram.NOTHING should be coming out of it if does(oil mainly).That means your diaphram went out.

coolcasemods · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:30 pm Post subject:

manual fuel pump.. where is it? this haynes guide isnt worth a FLIP.

Its saying it could be the inertia switch... but never shows me where the inertia switch is

Now i cant get it too run with gas in the carb

I have no idea what the heck is wrong

but it is very annoying...

love the truck, hate the problems.

patches_dixon · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:24 am Post subject:

The manual (mechanical) fuel pump is on the driverside. Towards the front of the block, behind the power steering pump. If you have power steering.

As far as you putting gas in the carb you might not have put enough or you put to much. Pour a generous amount in and pull trottle linkage back one quick time. Maybe that will help.

patches_dixon · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:26 am Post subject:

You should put more info on what kind of engine and a photo of the vehicle on your profile.

cismo123 · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:05 am Post subject:

So are you getting spark or not? And in all the carbs I've played with there was something called a float valve. If it sticks in the up/closed position you will get no fuel flow. Try rapping smartly on the side of the carb a couple of times with the handle of a large screwdriver. Sometimes that will dislodge a stuck float valve - if that's your problem. And did I mention spark? Is there any?

coolcasemods · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:58 pm Post subject:

UPDATE

Cleaned the distributer, replaced the coil (i wish everything was as easy as replacing the coil.. took 5 minutes) and now am replacing the fuel pump
WHICH IS A ***** to get to so i removed the power steering pump got the old pump off and went to put the new one on and the little gasket it came with broke... so now i gotta go try and get a new gasket for it.

my question is, if all this doesnt work, whats the next step?

And also, how do i know if the fuel pump is on correctly? its pretty hard to put on having to reach that far down and hold it and bolt it in... im guessing i'll have to get another person to hold it up for me while i bolt it in

so whats the next step if this doesnt work?
All its doing now is just trying to crank but it never fully turns over...