lucky7_1080
New member
Hi folks - hoping someone here can help me troubleshoot a non-starting California '79. Here's the situation:
I fired up the truck one afternoon just to move it and clear the driveway. It started fine no issues, choked properly, warmed it up, kicked the choke off at the pedal after ~5m. Pulled it out of the driveway and onto our street, parked it uphill on a slight slope (20% grade). Ran great. It had been raining for ~2 weeks straight (truck is not garaged), and we had a clear no-rain day when I moved it.
About 4 hours later, I went to fire it back up and pull it back. I couldn't get it started, and couldn't get it to fire properly. So, I just dropped it in neutral and rolled it back to our driveway. Once there, and after letting it sit for 30m due to the possibilty of flooding, tried to get it to fire again. Checked to make sure carb was getting gas (it is). I was able to get it to fire, but had to keep the pedal buried and even then it was just barely running. When I let off the pedal, would immediately die. Timing issue? There is quite a bit of gas sitting on the sides of the carb, and on top of the intake manifold due to what I believe is failed gasket between carb and manifold. However, this has been in a failed state for last ~year and has been running fine with no issue. I ran through a series of troubleshooting:
- Tank is full of gas.
- Fuel pump is functional (it's brand new). Pulled fuel hose from carb inlet, turned it over, gas moving well.
- Fuel filter not clogged (per above).
- Checked all spark plug wiring.
- Pulled distributor cap, checked rotor and checked for moisture (both new).
- Coil sparking properly (pulled plug from cyl. 1, turned it over, strong spark.
- Replaced coil as test.
- Replaced ignition module as test.
- Solenoid and regulator brand new, putting out proper voltage.
Am curious if anyone has any thoughts here, specifically whether pulling it up on an incline could have had any impact.
Can provide more details as needed! Thanks all.
I fired up the truck one afternoon just to move it and clear the driveway. It started fine no issues, choked properly, warmed it up, kicked the choke off at the pedal after ~5m. Pulled it out of the driveway and onto our street, parked it uphill on a slight slope (20% grade). Ran great. It had been raining for ~2 weeks straight (truck is not garaged), and we had a clear no-rain day when I moved it.
About 4 hours later, I went to fire it back up and pull it back. I couldn't get it started, and couldn't get it to fire properly. So, I just dropped it in neutral and rolled it back to our driveway. Once there, and after letting it sit for 30m due to the possibilty of flooding, tried to get it to fire again. Checked to make sure carb was getting gas (it is). I was able to get it to fire, but had to keep the pedal buried and even then it was just barely running. When I let off the pedal, would immediately die. Timing issue? There is quite a bit of gas sitting on the sides of the carb, and on top of the intake manifold due to what I believe is failed gasket between carb and manifold. However, this has been in a failed state for last ~year and has been running fine with no issue. I ran through a series of troubleshooting:
- Tank is full of gas.
- Fuel pump is functional (it's brand new). Pulled fuel hose from carb inlet, turned it over, gas moving well.
- Fuel filter not clogged (per above).
- Checked all spark plug wiring.
- Pulled distributor cap, checked rotor and checked for moisture (both new).
- Coil sparking properly (pulled plug from cyl. 1, turned it over, strong spark.
- Replaced coil as test.
- Replaced ignition module as test.
- Solenoid and regulator brand new, putting out proper voltage.
Am curious if anyone has any thoughts here, specifically whether pulling it up on an incline could have had any impact.
Can provide more details as needed! Thanks all.