I've got a 1989 E350 camper with the injected 460 that broke down in front of the shop. Engine has under 40k miles. It cranks and sputters occasionally trying to start but will not start. Fuel pressure is 41 lbs with key on, noid lights flash while cranking. Engine has spark. The 5 cylinders I can reach are reading 125 PSI with the compression tester. Spraying flammable stuff into the intake does not change the symptoms. The snap-on brick can only read an EGR code, there is no streaming data available.
I'm running out of ideas, anyone have any experience with these?
Bad crank/cam sensor? Put a timing light on it?
Kenny_McCormic wrote:
Bad crank/cam sensor? Put a timing light on it?
It gets it's signals from the pickups in the distributor, already threw one of those at it with no change.
This Ford have a TFI (Thick Film Intergrated) ignition unit on the side of the distributor?
Replace it...
Ranger50 wrote:
noddaz wrote:
This Ford have a TFI (Thick Film Intergrated) ignition unit on the side of the distributor?
Replace it...
What he said.
That sounds like a pretty definitive answer, got one coming in the morning. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
It's still doing the same thing, when cranking it will sputter for a few RPM's anf then go back to cranking. Does anyone know if there is a seperate ignition circuit or wiring for the run side of the ignition as opposed to the start?
This could be one of those cases where the hardest problems are caused by the simplest things.
Are the cap and rotor in good condition? How about the coil?
Did it jump time due to a Worn out timing chain? Try to confirm the timing.
Are the spark plugs wet after you try cranking it? A bad coolant temperature sensor could make it over fuel and flood very easily.
Is the ignition system interlocked with the oil pressure switch? That's not uncommon on industrial engines.
You mentioned an EGR problem. Is the EGR stuck wide open? I could see that causing a no start.
One other thing. If the timing marks are on the outer ring of the balancer don't assume that they are right. I've seen more than one Ford balancer with a spun outer ring. FWIW, Those were all on high revving small blocks
It runs! I put a vac gauge on it and with good compression I wasn't getting any manifold vacuum during cranking which meant the engine couldn't actually move air. Dropped the exhaust and it fired right up.
I assume it waswill a clogged cat???
Yeah, got the cat off and there was no honeycomb visible.
Ford has a TSB about that says to replace the PCM and some other stuff if a cat clogs to keep it from happening again, but I'm not sure how much this guy wants to spend or if he even lives in a county with emissions testing.
noddaz
Dork
6/23/14 10:13 a.m.
Sorry about that...
I am glad you got it running...
Rupert
HalfDork
6/23/14 10:20 a.m.
HappyAndy wrote:
Always wondered what a clogged cat looked like!
noddaz wrote:
Sorry about that...
I am glad you got it running...
The TFI was the reason I changed out the distributor in the first place, so we were thinking the same thing. The distributor was frozen so I had to soak it and beat on it over a couple days to get it free. Once it was free it looked a bit battered so it got a new one for $50 since there were multiple stories of pickups failing in them.
I've never before seen a cat fail enough while driving that ends in a no-start condition, but evidently it's possible.
Leafy
Reader
6/23/14 11:06 a.m.
I was going to suggest the cat problem. A local has a flatbed built from an E350 camper that did the same thing on his trip out to solo nationals (just died then wouldnt restart) and he just jack hammered the cat guts out in the parking lot of an expensive hotel during brunch and continued on his way to lincoln.
psychic_mechanic wrote:
noddaz wrote:
Sorry about that...
I am glad you got it running...
The TFI was the reason I changed out the distributor in the first place, so we were thinking the same thing. The distributor was frozen so I had to soak it and beat on it over a couple days to get it free. Once it was free it looked a bit battered so it got a new one for $50 since there were multiple stories of pickups failing in them.
I've never before seen a cat fail enough while driving that ends in a no-start condition, but evidently it's possible.
More than likely, what you fixed was the original cause of the catalyst to melt like it did. It does not take much in terms of misfires where raw fuel + a good amount of air goes right to a hot catalyst. Which becomes HOT, as in 2200F hot.
I having the same problem I have 1994 southwind fleetwood with Ford 460, and it just cutout on me, I replace plugs,wires cap,rotor and still no start, it sparks at end of spark plug wire, injectors fire with noid light, when cranking sounds like every once in awhile sounds like it wants to start, rv only has 26k miles on it. Reading previous post with catalytic. Was his problem, shouldn't the car still start and run really bad? No power?
