long starts, cutting out, and timing?

[nova801428]

Here it goes again, when I try to start my truck..when the engine is cold...it will take at least 5 seconds and then finally starts, whats wrong? It cuts out excessively, when I am driving, at pretty much any speed, it will cut out, except when I am accelerating or braking, I cant feel it, why does it do that? O.k., lastly, I went to check my timing on all my cylinders and I think it's #1, front left if your looking at the engine. I hooked my timer to the first spark plug wire and I looked at the light and it looked slow, and I then shown the light onto the...don't know what it's called...and I did not see the mark I made on it. Then I checked the next one back and it was fine, then the one after that was the same as the first. I then checked the whole right side and it was sparking fast unlike #1 and #3 on the left side? Could it be a bad spark plug or cap and rotor? I have replaced the cap and rotor and spark plugs twice, but the cap and rotor was the cheapest I could find, is that my problem? Could spark plugs or the cap and rotor cause my long starts and cutting out? I am very sorry for a long post and posting 3 threads in a row...please forgive me. Sorry to the people that have to read it again from rps

 

[RangerX]

What engine are we talking about here?

 

[nova801428]

oops, sorry, it's an 86 with a 2.9L V6, and a 5speed

 

[Wrench]

I would check you high tension leads for excess resistance. New high quality wires might be you next step. The crankshaft dampner should have a number of lines scribed into it to indicate timing marks. Assuming your engine has good compression and spark, then you might have a fuel delivery problem. Is it carburated or EFI?
Could also be your TFI module ready to go south. They suffer from heat damage especial back at the firewall on the distributor.

 

[nova801428]

I would check you high tension leads for excess resistance. New high quality wires might be you next step. The crankshaft dampner should have a number of lines scribed into it to indicate timing marks. Assuming your engine has good compression and spark, then you might have a fuel delivery problem. Is it carburated or EFI?
Could also be your TFI module ready to go south. They suffer from heat damage especial back at the firewall on the distributor.

Whats high tension leads? Yes it does have marks scribed into it, thats how I checked the timing. No, I don't have a fuel dilivery problem since it cuts out on and off all the time. No, it does not have very good spark, like what I said earlier about timing it and the light was flickering unlike a normal plug. It's EFI. How do I check if the tfi is bad?

 

[Wrench]

Have you done a compression test? Are you consuming any coolant?
Your fuel system may use two pumps, a low pressure one inside the tank and a high pressure pump on the frame rail. Just beyond the rail HP pump is a crossover canister which has some check valves in it that causes grief when they wear out. This can cause stalling and mid to high RPM bog. It is a non serviceable part. A fuel delivery test as well as a fuel pressure test will pin point a problem. Are you using an inductive timing light? When you check your timing are you removing the spout from the wiring harness? High tension leads are the spark plug wires on the secondary side of your ignition system. I have simulated tests for the TFI using the distributor out of the engine block and spun the shaft to check for spark. Check your coil connection terminals for corrosion.

 

[nova801428]

Yep, good compression, but the problem is the spark, less spark...no start. No, I did not remove the spout connector, I didn't think it really mattered since I wasn't phisacally timing it just checked it, and only 2 plugs were not really sparking. I am assuming, since I bought several plugs, that it wasn't the plugs that cause it to cut out. Once again, I bought new plugs tonight...autolite...the cheapest. I think my plugs are getting screwed up somehow. The canister on the frame between the tank and the high pressure pump has been taken off, but I couldn't take off the bottom part, and just put it back on my truck. I have checked the fuel pressure with a bicycle pump.....don't use one....and it was above or around 40...a little over.
Tomorrow I will install my new plugs and once again, I will update this