Hey all. My truck is getting fuel. It cranks good. Sometimes starts right up and Idles well. Turn it off and won't start. Cranks and sounds as if it wants to catch.
Fuel pump relay is new. EEC relay checked out. No codes show on reader.
Sometimes I smell gas. Makes me wonder about air/fuel mix and what controls that. O2 sensor?
Any ideas are appreciated.

 

codes? How long since the spark plugs were changed? How many miles on the engine? What is the compression? How long since the fuel filter was replaced?

 

If you smell gas, you may have leaky injectors. If it starts if you hold the pedal to the floor, that's what is happening.

O2 sensor only controls the air/fuel mix when it's warmed up and already running.

 

Check to make sure you have fire at the plugs when it won't start. That series of trucks had the TFI ignition and can be a major pain to diagnose. The thin film will crack and sometimes it works, sometimes it won't, sometimes it will just shut off when the engine reaches full temp. Might also make sure you are using a distributor cap with brass contacts and not aluminum. The aluminum ones build a ton of resistance and life for these types is usually less than 10,000 miles of full resistance free operation.

 

No codes. Pedal to the floor actually makes it sound less likely to start. The truck came with a fairly recent MSD ignition. I will check for spark and change the fuel filter.
thanks all

 

Guess I should have added that the TFI is on the front of the distributor. Unless that MSD system replaced the distributor, the TFI is still functional. Might want to see about picking up an early OBD-1 code reader. There are still a few out there.
TFI looks similar to this. This one is for a Mustang but the one for your truck is almost identical and is where the wires run into the distributor on the front.

 

Labnerd thanks for the info. I did get an obd1 reader. No codes.
I'll look to see if the factory distributor is under that cap.

Thanks