Hi guys. With work and what not I haven't had time to fiddle much with this truck.

But so far I have got the radio, wipers, air vents, lights, and electrical to work. My battery was in fact low. So I bought a battery charger

With the electrical working now, i attempted to start the truck. I had the hood open. When I tried to start it - it did make some efforts and sounds, and I could see the fan turning. But the truck did not start up.

My transportation (87 Nissan 300zx) had recently died (broken timing belt). And that had taught me that trying to start a car with a broken timing belt is not good if the motor is an interference type. So this is why I gave up trying to start the truck so quickly.

Are there any guesses as to why one of these trucks would not a start, yet the fan would spin? Could it be a broken timing belt? If so do these trucks have an interference type motor? Or can the truck still be relatively cheaply fixed if that's what it is? Or am I jumping to the worst possible scenario too soon again?

Also, when sitting in the truck playing with the transmission shifter, I can only find four gears to put it in. Is that normal? I don't think I can find the reverse position at all. Is this suggestive of a messed up tranny?

I was excited to get the electrical going. But then sad for the above two discoveries. The truck does have gas in it, I put a jerry can of it in. And the gas gauge is telling me the tank is half full.

Is it possible the old gas is no good from the truck sitting for a year or two?

I'm praying I can get this truck going on my own without a mechanic as funds are low and this was supposed to be the vehicle to free me from having to take the public transportation bus anymore

Thanks for any advice people

 

You could have bad gas. Not entirely uncommon. Was the engine actually turning over full revolutions or just "trying" to?

 

did you pump the gas twice before you tried starting it? carbed engines do need you to pump the gas once or twice before you hit the key to set the choke and give it a small shot of gas. otherwise it usually takes a long time to get it to start.

 

If I were in your situation, I'd pour a little gas right in the carb, and crank 'er up. That old gas is probably no good. You might be able to dilute it, but unless you drain it, you risk just wasting your money.

You probably have to break through a "wall" to get it into reverse. Push hard to the right, but obviously, don't try and bend the shifter or anything. Somebody may have even put a 3-speed in it at some point for whatever reason. In that case, reverse would be where 4th should be. (EDIT: No, it would be where 1st would be. I'm too young and dumb to know a 3 speed's shift pattern)

You ever try to find reverse in a VW beetle with a worn shift linkage? 0_o

These motors have timing chains, not belts. It's darn near impossible to break them, so I wouldn't be worried about that at all.

 

If it is a 3 speed reverse would not be where 4th would have been. The shift pattern for a 3 speed is reverse top left, 1st bottom left, 2nd top right, and 3rd bottom right. If it is a 4 speed reverse is to the right hard and then back. It will go back a little farther than what 2nd and 4th do.
3 speed shifter


4 speed shifter

 

Put it in Neutral. Get a spray bottle, fill about 1/3rd of it with new gas. Remove the air filter and housing, spray gas (mist) into the carb,....a few good shots. Get the bottle away from the carb, and try and start it. If it fires up try and keep it running by poking at the throttle with your foot lightly. If it stalls repeat this until it starts and runs on it's own....IF it starts. Then I would keep it running until it warms up or starts spraying coolant all over the neighborhood. BTW, these motors are nothing like your Datsun, they have pushrods, timing chains, and are non contact motors anyway. I have NEVER seen a timing chain break on an American motor. After you try all this let me know how it worked out and we can go from there. BTW (again) you bought this truck not running obviously.....did the PO tell you it ran? Or was it a "Ran when parked" deal and sat for years?

 

You also need to take some detailed pics of the MSD set up and underhood stuff. The add pics are gonzo.

 

Ok I tried a few more times this morning to get it started - the regular normal way. And I pumped the gas pedal once (or twice) before trying to start it. It sounds to me like it was turning over and trying to start, but just not firing up. Kind of how my Nissan sounded when I tried to start it and it wouldn't.

I held the key down for about like 5 true seconds each time. After about the fifth try overall it just started to not want to even turn over - like it was dying. Like if i was to continue eventually the whole motor would just stop completely and utterly.

A small point that maybe is of importance is that the PO was also selling a fuel cell. It was not included in the package with the truck, but he did buy it for this truck originally. And he showed me it when I saw the truck. He is still selling it and you can see it here ... http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...AdIdZ470099297

Also one of the parts that came with the truck (but is not installed) was a Edelbrock fuel line and filter kit. He had mentioned he couldn't get it to fit under the hood. And I suggested he ordered the wrong end piece, which he kind of then admitted. But then he said, oh wait no I remember now where this goes, and then that's when he showed me the fuel cell.

So I'm just now wondering if maybe the reason they got the fuel cell and that fuel line was because the truck needs a new gas tank or something and that's why it's not getting fuel to the motor. Anyway just thought I'd include this information in this thread, because maybe it's relative??.

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UPDATE:

I tried spraying gas directly into the carb, but that did nothing to help. The engine barely does much now when I turn the key. Makes a noise and fan turns maybe once then everything comes to a halt. I think Wally-E is dying and on life support. I might need to call a mechanic Doctor.

 

25 seconds of cranking is plenty to kill a weak battery. Don't worry, you won't hurt the motor by just cranking it.

Do you know if you have spark? Has it "sped up" when cranking it? I check spark by pulling off a sparkplug wire, putting it on a spare plug, resting the plug on the block, cranking the motor, and watching for fat blue sparks. YMMV

Like SniperX said, we don't really know how long this sat, and what to expect or not to expect.

* My age is showing . . . I'm too young to know a 3-speed's shift pattern by heart *

 

sounds like you need yo put the battery back on charge before it dies. you never want to completely drain a battery because it is suppose to shorten its life. also if you drain it to the point it was slow turning over you might now be getting the spark required to get it to fire. i would also agree that you need to check for spark. i am guessing it is something silly keeping it from starting.