Well, one of the bolts that holds the cap into place has the phillips head stripped and the socket part has been rounded off. At this point I guess I will just abandon it for a week. Maybe during the week I will come up with a few ideas to try and remove it. I just don't even know what to do right now. To think I only needed two more weeks until I was going to move across the states and leave this truck sitting in GA...

 

Off the top of my head hammer & cold chisel, remove the one good screw and then bust the cap up with the hammer and cold chisel, work around the messed up screw as best as you can then spray with some flavor of penetrating oil on it then vise-grips to remove the screw. Hope that the screw comes out in one piece. It won't take much to bust the cap up so be kinda nice, no full arm swings with that hammer. I am sure others will have ideas as well.

 

Could try using a smaller 12 point socket, and drive it onto the head of the screw.

 

So, I was finally able to get back into this ordeal and ended up breaking the distributer cap off and using a pair of pliers to take the screw out. The cap had a lot of carbon buildup on all of the connectors and the rotor looked very worn down on the metal. I then installed the replacements and and reconnected the plug wires and it still isn't starting.

I am about to go do the electrical tests again but I noticed a high pitched sound coming from the PCM when the key was in the ignition. Is that a sign that I had a larger issue? If so, are there any ideas on how to test that?

 

If the pcm is making strange noises, that IS a good indicator that it has a problem....

What are you not getting? Spark or Fuel?

 

Spark is my issue.

I just went back out there under a recommendation that it may be something called a pick up coil. I went to the truck and unplugged the pick up coil wire and checked for voltage and was getting just shy of 3v which I assume is about right as all the guides I found said that if you test with a bulb or light that it would be very dim.

I then took the cap and rotor back off (so much easier this time) and attempted to use my multimeter to test from the metal pieces of the pick up coil coil itself and couldn't find a combination that would show any voltage with my multimeter on the 20v DC setting.

I'm attempting to scrounge up $30 dollars and a ride into the city since Advance (only local parts place) doesn't show a direct fit part. Does this sound like it could be the issue or am I about to waste more money buying parts I can't afford at the moment?

PS: I really appreciate the help that has been provided thus far.

 

Pick up coil has nothing to do with spark. It is simply a camshaft position sensor. (still called a pick up coil though....)

Crank sensor deals with spark. It's down on the bellhousing behind the passenger side head. Real drag to get to....

Do you get power to the coil for a few seconds when you first turn the key on?

 

I believe I did, but I am not 100%

 

Verify that.

Does the fuel pump prime when you turn the key on? (if so, you probably are getting power to the coil as well)

Check the wiring for the crank sensor, if that looks ok, pull the sensor, and inspect it. There is a test you can do with a multimeter, but, I don't recall what it is... should be outlined in the service manual though.