In case you didn't know, I am an old car kind of guy. OK, I am an old guy and I like cars I can fix. Day before yesterday, I went out to start the truck and it cranked hard but didn't hit a lick. I started with the assumption that I flooded it first and cleaned the plugs one at a time. I checked the gas line and then the voltage to the ignition. So far so good. I am going to invite Barb out and have her crank the engine while I look at the spark for one of the plugs. I suspect a part in the ignition. It doesn't have a coil, just one of those fancy distributors with some electrical works inside.
Oh well, better get cranking
MUD
Later on tonight
My 53 Chevy Pick-Up Truck has a late model Chevy 350 motor in it. Along with the later model displacement, it has a High Efficiency Ignition (HEI) That is completely different from the systems I worked with as a kid. This opened a whole new world of troubleshooting for me from where I grew up. The big difference is the structure has a coil built in to the distributor cap instead or a separate beer can shaped coil. There are no points to adjust, just an engine control module that does god only knows what. I had a dead truck and no way to troubleshoot with the help of a computer so it was replace as you go. With no spark, I started with the coil and the distributor cap. No, that didn't fix the problem. Next, there was the rotor and the engine control module. Between each step, i would put the whole mess together and try to start it. I can now take the entire system apart and put it back together in about 15 minutes. Under neath the rotor, there is a set of rotating weights that advance the spark as the rpm increases. These tiny parts have a spring that return the parts as the RPM decreases. Those little springs are impossible to find if you drop one and wouldn't you know I dropped one. Thank God for Ace hardware's assortment of springs. The one that was the right tension was a little long. I managed to cut it too the same size as the one that didn't jump off into the grass. It looked like a home made spring and i duplicated the shape and length.
The good news is that when I finished the last time, it started and seems to run like a champ. I am not sure what tart of the almost $100 dollars worth of parts finally fixed the darn thing, but I'm not sure I really care so long as it runs and runs well.
Dropped metal things (springs, bolts, nuts and screws) can be found quick and easy with a good magnet. Just swing it over the area just above the grass and the item will jump on for a ride. I have my magnet tied to a string and can swing over a big area in no time. It works for me. One of my magnets will lift about 20 lbs. Nothing can get away from that one. Ray
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