have a 85 d350 with a 360. Sometimes it starts, sometimes it doesent. Turns over very strong always just doesent get spark most of the time, here is a list of what I replaced, entire distributer/cap/rotor/pickup, coil, ecu, ballast resistor, starter relay, grounds +added additional grounds, replaced starter wires, ALL ignition wires from dash to resistor to coil, dist. I replaced these one by one over the course of a year to fix problem, truck is in mint condition and I got it cheap. After all this the truck would still not start so I pushed it out of the barn where it set for last 3 months and for the heck of it i turned the key forward today and she fired right up! now i know tomorrow it wont start, any suggestions where to look next? this is driving me beyond crazy! i test it for spark with a spark tester when it wont turn over and there is NO spark at the coil, dist, or end of plug wire with or without a spark plug on it? it does however make a poping through exhaust ONLY when idle is dropping after reving motor to high RPM's which i assume is due to exhaust leak at manifold.

thanks for any help with this headache

 

this could be caused by the timing being off. i hate computers in vehicles. it makes thing more difficult.

 

I will double check timming again here in about 3 hours, had a friend tell me the same thing last night, I am almost 100% positive I had the timming set right on after I put new distributer in I, I think 5 btdc is where i put it.

thanks

 

I checked timming it was at 5*btdc so I moved it to 12*btdc aircleaner sticker said to put it at 10* but I have a higher performance coil and ecu on it. It has started about 7 times in a row now so we will see if its fixed in the next few days if it keeps continueing to start.

 

5*btdc don't really sound right. 10-12*btdc sounds correct. you have to remember that the timing chain stretches and you have to account for that when you are adjusting the timing. most people i know usually set the timing by ear.