Hey all,
A little back story on my 1991 Dodge W150, 5.2 318 I have owned this truck since 2008. It used to be my daily driver, until I bought more fuel efficient vehicles and had the truck in storage, so it sat for a couple years. After jumping the battery, I got her going for a while. The battery was toast so I bought a new one, then ended up having to replace the computer and she ran like a dream. Right when I was moving, (6 months ago) the fuel pump gave out. Replaced that, but didn't change the filters (even though i know better *sigh*) just to get the Beast to my new house. Got it there, but it quit on me again. Changed the fuel filters and she ran like a champ for a day. Drove it around the block a few times, put some 89 octane and a bottle of seafoam in it and she didn't stall, spit or sputter once. Then Saturday I start it up, it ran for a few minutes then died. It fired right back up, so I figured air in the system from the filter changes, no big deal. Until she did it again as I went down the road. Then again, and one more time before finally shutting down once and for all. Sprayed carb cleaner in the throttle body before trying to start again, and she didn't even try to turn over, just cranked and cranked. Put a multimeter on my coil, both terminals read 7.8 (book says .5 positive and 1.3 negative). Put new coil in, and she started for 30 seconds, then quit. I noticed a fried ground wire (at least I THINK that's what it is) bolted to the firewall by the coil. Trimmed off the fried bits, put a new connector on it and bolted back up. Same thing. Started for 30 seconds, then quit, and won't fire again. I should mention that I have no idea what the dumbass that had it before me was thinking with the wiring, but some of it makes NO sense. I have to have a hot wire powering my coil (through a toggle switch) to get power to it (never did get to the root of THAT issue). So that's the long version lol. I'm leaning towards the distributor pick up coil at the moment. I noticed some rust on the distributor pole where the rotor sits, so maybe a new distributor entirely. Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
Thanks!
-Kyle

 

That would be a start, After replacing see if you have good spark from the coil.

 

sweet thank you! When I remove cap and rotor, I'll try to tackle some of the rust before installing a new pickup coil. I'm pretty sure that's the culprit. Unless it IS that ground wire that was melted. I'm assuming it's a ground wire. It bolts right to the firewall by the windshield wiper motor, and I can trace it down behind the passenger side valve cover where I lose it. I can't entirely tell where it goes exactly

 

Ok, I got the hall effect/pickup coil replaced. Had to pull the distributor out entirely (that was fun). Put it all back together, and got her running! Almost.... it starts and idles fine, and I can rev it up in park just fine, but the second I put it in gear, it has NO power. I'll press the pedal 1/2 way down, and it'll barely crawl forward. If I floor it, it sputters and will sometimes shut down. It starts right back up, but is hard to move. It's like it's being starved of fuel. My thought is change out the fuel filter near the tank, even though I just did that. This damn truck has me at my wits end, BUT, glass half full, it runs now! That's 50% progress in my book!

 

Probably need to reset timing. I don't think yours has a crank position sensor, does it?

 

no I believe the hall effect/pickup coil in the distributor acts as the crank sensor in the '91s

 

Then there is probably some procedure to set base timing...... Though I do not know what it is.

 

The sensor moves with the dizzy just like points or electronic pick up. Set the timing as you would a conventional distributor. Book i have says to go by the emissions label for the timing #.

 

Yup! Followed the manual, and got as close as I can to 10° BTDC. It was sooo far retarded, it had ZERO power and was overheating. I got it as close as I could, but when I cranked down the dizzy clamp bolt, I think I knocked it out of whack a tad, but she drove well enough to get home so I can further fine tune it. It drove mostly fine, but would fight me if I gave it too much throttle, and sound like the throttle body sneezed lol. Suffice it to say, I think my major problems are solved. It just needs some fine tuning. I can't express enough my thanks to all of you who helped point me in the right direction!! Cheers!
-Kyle

 

Cool. Glad ya got it going.