Thanks for the great reply.
I did try to watch the fuel pressure while starting it I believe it trys to stay up around 50 psi so that's good.
THat's my next step is to check compression. I read its really rare but possible the timing again skipped a couple teeth. the engine sounds pretty loud like there's no oil in the heads hopefully that's only why.
Also if I didn't already mention. the lady said it just all of a sudden broke down quit running on her while driving down the rode. So it has eight coil overs and all have spark that I tested. So its not like there's just one coil over that went bad.
The truck feels like its trying to run 3 cylinders ..

 

50psi is about where the spec sheet calls for (i belive its is 48.5+/- 3 or something like that, but 50 is plenty)


iv never seen the timing skip a tooth in these trucks, not to say it cannot happen, but it is EXTREMELY rare.

also if you think you have bad gas then get it out and put some fresh stuff it int and see if it makes a difference.

 

I don't know what the newer gears are made of, but back in the '70s the timing gears had nylon teeth that wore out after about 60k miles and would make a carb engine backfire on heavy acceleration, and eventually yes, the chain would jump a few teeth and it'd either quit completely, or run barely run at all, without enough power to even move the vehicle. I don't who's bright idea this was I'd like to knock a few teeth out of them, for all the nylon timing gears I've had to replace over the years.

If your timing has jumped (as you say, unlikely), you could still tell by checking compression...it'd be low across the board. My guess is that it hasn't jumped, but it can't hurt to check anyway. If you have low compression in only a few cylinders, it'll be either a head gasket (most likely cause and is often a result of overheating), burned valves (second most common, and usually a result of FOD or extreme overheating), or ring/cylinder-wall damage. This last is the least common, but also the most expensive to repair. It can be done with the engine still in the vehicle, but it ain't easy.

If I were to guess, from the symptoms you've given here, it sounds like both head gaskets are blown across a pair of cylinders, and in effect, it's trying to run on 4 cylinders. I bought a Jeep with the same basic problem, once (wasn't the gaskets, but rather the inner two cylinders on each head was cracked as a result of overheating...common on AMC heads), and it ran about like you've described. I put a pair of heads on it and it fired and ran like a new one.

I want you to keep in mind, however, that I'm an old-school mechanic, and don't know nearly enough about injection systems to be able to guess about any other problems that could cause it to give the same symptoms. If you were working on a '80 318 with a carb and standard ignition, I'd give you a 90% chance of your compression being low in at least 3 cylinders without ever having to test it. But with these newer vehicles....I can't tell you anything for sure.

 

I wanted to add one more thing....with multi-port fuel injection, I have seen a few clogged injectors cause the same symptoms. I hardly think she'd have more than 1 injector fail at a time and cause it to simply "quit", but there is always the possibility that it was a crank or cam sensor that went bad initially causing to quit running, and now that you've fixed the problem it had, sitting for a 18 months has caused a few fuel injectors to become partially or completely clogged. A compression test will tell you if this is a possibility, and to be honest, I still have the idea in my head that she (being a woman, and in reality most women really don't pay attention to any gauge or lights until it stops running) let it get low on coolant, overheated it, and popped one, or both, head gaskets.

 

Pull the valve covers and take a look at the chains / cams. If you have a lot of noise on the top end and it "just quit" when running down the road, now starts & runs on a couple cylinders you could have one side that's jumped or broken completely. While the covers are off rotate the engine by hand and see if your timing marks line up appropriately. Look closely at the upper chain guides and see if there's major wear on them as well.

If one side is broken evauluate the situation fully. The 4.7 is a zero clearance motor and the pistons *will* hit the valves if something in the timing breaks. End results are bent valves, broken valve seats & cracked pistons.

Bob

 

Bad battery, replace it.

Go get some octane booster and use the whole bottle.

 

Stop trying to start it. Put a charger on the battery and let it sit for a few hours. While you're killing time pull the valve covers and check the top end. A weak battery will make it run rough but it won't cause engine noise.....

Bob

 

GReat replies guys !
COmpression results are in (which I should have done a month ago)
ZERO COMPRESSION across the board drivers bank.
GOod 150 psi across the passenger bank .
If this was a import car I'd have the timing belt changed with my eyes closed. But may take this job to a dodge mechanic I know. I heard four hours to do chain.
ANd let's hope valves aren't bent ..

 

That's the biggest concern, yep. I know that's an interference motor, so the odds are extremely high there's some damage of some kind. Hopefully, it'll be minimized and repairable without having to pull the motor out. Not having any compression at all on that side tells me that at the least, there'll almost certainly be some valve work to do. You'll be lucky to get by without finding a cracked piston or damaged wrist pin.

Also, the chain isn't much different from a belt. If you can swap a belt, you can swap a chain, but I wouldn't bother until after I pulled off the head to see what damage has been done.

 

That's a pretty optomistic estimate!!!

Sorry, but I think you're gonna find some damage on the side with no compression. Pull the head and see how bad it is before continuing, then price out all the parts & labor vs. a replacement motor.

On the good side, if you're looking for a project that *really* isn't that difficult dig into it yourself. The most difficult part is getting all the chains on and timed correctly with only two hands. Be prepared to spend some time underthe hood though, there's lots of stuff that comes off before you get to the chains.

Bob