Expert: Roland Finston - 7/10/2011

Question
QUESTION: guy gave me this and it is running rough think he crossed plug wires can u tell me wich wires go where> would buy a haynes manual but we r currently living on my wife's income and its not much can u help me thanks shaun

ANSWER: Hi Shaun,
Sorry I don't have a manual that covers the truck engines. I wonder if this might not have a self-diagnostic computer which by using the ignition key would give you a fault code. Turn the:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapased time. Then watch the check engine light to see if it begins to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to get an accurate flash count. Let me know the results and we can go from there. Does the engine have a distributor or does it have only a coil pack into which the spark wires plug in?
Roland

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QUESTION: has a distributor and i figured out the diagram which all wires route to.  what will the key deal do. if u dont mind me asking?  anyway I think that my fuel pump is messed up or filter is clogged. when i got the truck we had to tow it home was running wierd then it just blew off oil filter that is on the valve cover, smacked the hood then hit the ground, so glad no one was under the hood when this happened. But I dont think that the throttle bottle is getting gas or it could be one one the sensors on the t b messed up.  anywho the guy didn;t take care of the truck at all oil is why to full and spark plug wires were crossed and plugs not gapped trying what ever i can but cannot buy any parts is the hard part.

ANSWER: Hi Shaun,
The key test will tell us what the engine controlled thinks is wrong with the engine.
I would believe you will want to check the spark timing and the vacuum lines. The fuel pump should run for about one second when you turn the key to run position. Then it starts again when you being cranking but the noise from the starter probably will make it difficult to verify the hum from the pump. But take it one step at a time.
Roland

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QUESTION: ok i think i may have narrowed my problems down 1. idle air control valve 2. burned valve 3. egr valve 4. fuel filter map sensor any of these could be wrong took off the iac valve and the spring is stiff as a bored not functioning like it think it should be any more suggestions on any of this.  you have been a great help thanks so much     SHAUN

Answer
Hi Shaun,
The best way to find out which of the sensors/circuits is wrong is to use the ignition key to turn the ignition switch as I described in my first answer:'on-off-on-off-on and leave on', doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light to begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the the flashes before each pause. Then repeat. Then let me know the counts.
The egr you could ckeck to make sure that the valve stem is moving freely back and forth and that spring-action tries and succeeds in closing it to a dead stop. If not, then spray WD-40 on the stem where it enters the valve body and move it some more. There is a slot in the stem what you can insert the tip of a screwdriver in order to move it.
The burnt valve would be found out by a compression test on all the cylinders via the spark plug hole.
Fuel filter, if it is inside the fuel tank is probably not the cause of a no start.
I am glad to be of help.
Roland
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