This truck is a '93 F-150 4x4 automatic with a 5.8L engine. Yesterday the truck ran fine. This morning it will not start. It is getting fire at the plug, starting fluid was used at the air intake, and it still will not start. Any thoughts?

 

Check fuel pump shutoff switch. Mounted under dashboard. sometimes a sharp jolt will trip it .

 

Check the timing is correct. Check for fuel at the plugs, but it should run for a few seconds on starting spray.

 

Fuel, air, spark... is all you need. Whether or not your getting enough, too much, or not at the right time is another story!!
If it ran fine when you parked it, but now will not start... Common causes are... Fuel delivery (inertia switch, fuel pump, fuel filter)
Coolant sensor, throttle postion sensor. ect...
If you have the know-how, I would check to make sure you have injector pulse. At a cold start, your truck needs more fuel, so if the coolant temp sensor is bad, it can prevent the truck from starting. Also your throttle postion sensor, if stuck in clear flood (wide open on crank), then it will not start. If it was at my shop, I would check spark (at a plug, preferably one on each bank), check fuel pressure (should be 35psi or so), if both those check good, then I check injector pulse width. If all of those check good, then check compression. Hope this helps, post on how it went.

 

I am checking everything you guys mentioned. I will post the what I find out when I figure it out. Thanks again

 

If all of the above suggestions don't pinpoint your problem, you might want to give some thought to a skipped timing chain. Once they wear and get too loose, they will skip a tooth. It's hard to diagnose without pulling the timing cover off. If you advance the ignition timing as far as possible and it sounds like it wants to start, that is a fairly positive indicator. Some of the others on the board may have other diagnostic methods to suggest. Good luck, GlennMc.

 

A quick way to check for a worn /jumped timing chain is to run a compression test. If all the cylinders read low (around 50 to 70 psi) more than likely the timing chain has jumped. If the compression is good, then you might have a weak ignition coil. You stated you had spark, but you might not have enough to start the engine. A quick test would be to remove the coil wire from the dist. cap & hold it about a inch from a good ground. It should arch a good blue-white spark while cranking the engine.