I've been working on this truck for a couple years (off and on) and have not yet been able to get it to start. The truck turns over, has fuel and spark at the correct time, but for some reason won't fire off. It comes close, but once you let off the ignition, it stops. I've noticed, though, that there seems to be smoke coming out of the valve cover. After I noticed this, I noticed that it was coming out of the head. I have not been able to do a compression check yet, but I will soon (hopefully). Based off the information pre-compression check, do you guys (or gals) think I might have burnt valves or bad valve stem seals? I'm still pretty new to all of this and my dad tried teaching me what he could before he passed, but I've never run into a situation like this before. I will post a few videos, in one of them you can kinda see the smoke I speak of, but since I was working on it in the dark with a shop light, its barely visible.
Thanks,
Kevin
P.S. Here are the links for the videos:

 

I did a compression check tonight, but since the engine is not currently running, I cranked it for a little bit and got the numbers as followed:
1. 45 psi
2. 40
3. 35
4. 50
5. 30
6. 30
Adding oil to #1 brought no increase and read 30 psi on second crank. Any ideas on what this means? Should I have the head checked or look at replacing rings?

 

could be bad rings, head gasket, or your valves not seating properly. 30-35 seems low....

 

Yeah, it seemed really low to me, as well. What do you think I should do first? Anyone else have input?

 

Is there any way to check if its the valves or not?

 

Do a leak down test?

 

How do I do that? I did a little searching on Google last night, but I couldn't find anything that was very helpful. How do you do a leak down test? Sorry, like I said, I'm still new when it comes to this stuff :l

 

You have to pump up the cylinder with compressed air and have a guage on it. Then take note as to how fast it leaks down.

Make sure thar the cylinder you are testing is on the compression stroke or it won't hold any pressuer at all.

You may be able to rent/borrow the set up from an auto parts store.

Good luck

 

Is it like a compression tester? I'll have to see if I can get ahold of something... I'm guessing there shouldn't be any leak down, but how would I know where its leaking?

 

Are you saying it acts like it's started until you release the key?

 

If the compression is THAT low across the board, you have a bad gauge or the engine needs a complete teardown and rebuild.

 

When you did the compression test did you block the carburetor wide open and also wedge the choke butterfly open so air can be drawn in properly? Always make sure to use something big enough so it can't fall into the engine.

 

Yeah, I zip tied the choke open and held the throttle open with my hand.. I'm not sure if the low readings could have been because thr engine can't actually get to operating temp or not, but I plan on doing a leak down test tomorrow, if I can find some sort of pressure gauge to monitor any drops

 

Like I said, you have a MAJOR discrepancy there. Normal compression should be around 120 psi. Before you do anything else, get a different compression gauge and try it again. Crank it till the gauge stops going up.

 

Ok, I had an air compressor that had two gauges on it, one for tank pressure and one for line pressure. I filled the cylinder with air and shut off the supply via the regulator and sounded like it was leaking past the rings. I put some oil in the cylinders and got the pressures up. I have two theories I'd like ya'lls input on. Either the engine sat too long without running or cranking long enough for the oil to have drained off of the cylinders or the engine needs new rings and to be honed and all that. What do you guys think? Should I go ahead and assume it needs to be rebuilt? If so, can it be done with the engine in the compartment? (I dont have access to a hoist or stand anymore, I had to sell them when my dad passed away)