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No Start?

Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 1985 DODGE TRUCK
  • 5.2L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 142,000 MILES
Joe,

Since I am no longer working the fuel system, I thought I would start fresh.

Fuel- Good.
Compression- Good.
Spark- Good.
Clue How To Proceed- Extremely Bad.
Friday, June 16th, 2023 AT 4:55 PM

27 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

I like your post. LOL I thought I recognized the vehicle. I'm still waiting for you to sell it to me. LOL

If you have good spark, fuel, and compression, the only thing left is timing. Have you used a timing light to make sure we are getting spark to cylinder one when the crank pulley is very near TDC?

Let me know.

Joe
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Friday, June 16th, 2023 AT 8:55 PM
Tiny
GCROW
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  • 57 POSTS
Thanks, lol. To be honest, as much as I love my pickup, at this rate, selling is mighty tempting. Unfortunately, one of my offspring wouldn't let me live it down, even on my deathbed.

I haven't yet. I won't lie, I don't have a timing light and I've been trying to avoid anything involving timing.

Also, I forgot that cylinder 4 has only 110psi while all others are 150-160. So, I guess my post should have said, compression- okay.
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Saturday, June 17th, 2023 AT 9:29 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

The manual indicates compression above 100 psi, so cylinder 4 is still okay. You may feel a little bit of a rough idle simply because the others are higher, but it should run okay.

We really need to check the timing. The only thing is this. If it is off, you should at least hear a cylinder or two firing unless it is really off; in which case, you would likely hear a backfire.

Let me know.

Joe
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Saturday, June 17th, 2023 AT 10:24 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
I do get backfire if the distributor is turned counterclockwise too much with an occasional flame from the carburetor.

I'll work on getting a timing light, the dial in method is definitely not working. I have turned that thing "click by click" from one direction to the other and back again. It is going to be probably next week, but I will let you know when I have when I get it done. Thanks Joe.
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Monday, June 19th, 2023 AT 8:40 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

I think it would be a good starting point to determine if cylinder 1 is firing on TDC. Regardless of the time, I look forward to hearing from you and what you find.

Take care,

Joe
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Monday, June 19th, 2023 AT 8:25 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Hey Joe, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I have not yet been able to get ahold of a timing light. Fixed-income sucks. My wife reminded me of something. In my first attempts to crank the old girl, we heard a ping come from inside the engine. Now, how this escaped my memory can only be attributed to the fact that my recall is shorter than that of squirrel. I know this could have been any number of things, but do you think it's possible this is where my problem lies?
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Thursday, July 13th, 2023 AT 8:22 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Hi,

Welcome back. No problem whatsoever with any delay. The noise could have been anything. However, since we are having so much trouble with timing, I wonder if the timing chain jumped and that was what you heard. Could the sound have come from there?

Joe
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Thursday, July 13th, 2023 AT 11:51 AM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Dear God, I hope not! It happened when I first tried cranking her. She had been sitting for a while.
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Thursday, July 13th, 2023 AT 4:40 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
We need to get a timing light on it to see if it is firing cylinder 1 near TDC. Or recheck the distributor rotor at TDC to confirm it is pointing toward the cylinder 1 plug wire and if the wires on the cap are correct. Other than that, nothing makes sense. We have spark and fuel. You have good compression, so it should run. We are missing something simple. I wish I was there.

Let me know.

Joe
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Thursday, July 13th, 2023 AT 7:10 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Me too. I left my knowledge base many moons ago. So, which of the marks on the camshaft pulley is the one I should be looking for? So far, I haven't seen any pass the marks on the engine. Even when I'm just using a flashlight to watch her turn. What is the best way to manually turn the shaft to DC in order to compare position with the rotor?
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Monday, July 24th, 2023 AT 12:13 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Hi,

The timing mark should be on the crankshaft pulley. The pulley should have a cut mark on it that will be used to align with a tag on the timing chain cover.

Also, I would turn the engine clockwise.

Let me know.

Joe
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Monday, July 24th, 2023 AT 9:38 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Okay, so there is more than one mark on the pulley. Is one of these the mythical magic mark? I've tried looking for the info elsewhere, but I can't seem to find it.
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Thursday, July 27th, 2023 AT 11:37 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

I attached two pics below. Your truck's design could be one or the other. I highlighted the mark on the pulley. When it is in line with the indicator "0" on the pointer, that is top dead center (TDC). Note there are indicators BTDC and ATDC. They simply indicate before and after top dead center.

Let me know if you find it.

Take care,

Joe

See pics below.
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Thursday, July 27th, 2023 AT 8:17 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Here is what I see. The first is one of three identical tic marks. The second has a mark that goes does look like its been cut and has all the little tics, etc. I just wanted to ensure it is the second that I am looking for. Either way, the distributor rotor."sigh". Is 180 off.
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Friday, July 28th, 2023 AT 1:24 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

I had a feeling it was timing related. I copied pic 1 of yours. I drew a red line showing where TDC is found. In the pic, it is slightly off. The two lines I made need to be straight across.

If it is 180 degrees out, pull the distributor out and give it a turn to align it.

Let me know the results.

Take care,

Joe

See pic below.
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Friday, July 28th, 2023 AT 7:43 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Good times. May take a bit for me to complete physically. So, out of curiosity, what are the ruler looking tics?
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Saturday, July 29th, 2023 AT 9:47 AM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Oh, and just so I am tracking, will either of the three identical tic marks be sufficient?
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Saturday, July 29th, 2023 AT 5:26 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

The different marks are indicators for before or after top dead center. And to answer your question, the mark on the pulley needs to be aligned with the 0. If you go one way or the other, you won't get the distributor in the right position.

Let me know what I can do to help.

Take care,

Joe
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Saturday, July 29th, 2023 AT 8:57 PM
Tiny
GCROW
  • MEMBER
  • 57 POSTS
Good morning, Joe. I want to apologize in advance for my complete utter confusion.

The highlighted mark I need to align with zero has two identical marks and I just wanted to make sure I aligned the correct one.

The ruler like marks I am curious about are the ones on the pulley itself and I wasn't sure if they were in any way necessary for the task at hand.

Again, I do apologize for the barrage of questions. Your help is appreciated more than you know.

Respect,
Greg
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Sunday, July 30th, 2023 AT 8:22 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Greg, your questions are absolutely no problem at all. But, now you have me confused.

You attached two pics above. In the picture on the left, I only see one mark on the pulley/harmonic balancer. Is there another one?

In pic 2, there are several marks. They all indicate different degrees of timing.

If you look below, I copied your second pic. At the very bottom, it says BTC, which means before top center. As you work your way up, it first indicates 30 degrees, then 20 degrees, and then 10 degrees. If you continue a little further, you should find 0 degrees or TDC.

Sorry for the pathetic drawing. LOL, I didn't know how else to point up further.

Let me know.

Joe

See pic below.
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Sunday, July 30th, 2023 AT 8:06 PM

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