A buddy and I picked up a non running project truck. It's a 96 RAM 1500. It's 5.9.

It cranks but doesn't really even try to start.

I've checked fuel at the rail and used starting fluid. I didn't use a fuel pressure gauge but I'm pretty confident fuel delivery is fine.

It has spark at the coil and the plugs. I kinda half assed set #1 to close-ish to TDC. The rotor button looked pretty far off. We moved the distributor a little to see if it works make a difference. It only made a minor difference. It's not doing much more than occasionally giving a half hearted burp of a sputter.

I was reading that the distributor position doesn't set the timing. Did I read something incorrect. That didn't make sense to me but what I read is the computer will adjust it.

Any suggestions at what I should try?

 

How old is the fuel in the tank? Are the plugs in it any good? I would check compression in all the cylinders. Turning the distributor does not adjust timing. But you should set it like this:
#1 cylinder TDC on the COMPRESSION stroke position the distributor like this.


This will set the fuel sync to where it should run.

 

Follow up after setting the distributor as posted above, as you have now officially messed up the fuel sync it will not start. Did it have a check engine light? fault codes? They're simple systems but even a simple cam/crank sensor issue can cause headaches. Are the plugs coming out wet? how does the electrode look?