Anybody here know TBI Iron Duke?

I've been looking for an early-ish S10. I found a promising '87 on Craigslist, but when I went to look at it, it was a no-start.

this is the 2.5 TBI engine.

I could smell old gas, and the fellow told me it had been sitting.

Any quick ideas on this one? It's really very close to the exact truck I've been looking for, but I don't want to have to buy it as a non-runner.

First thing I would do is drain the old fuel, put in good gas, and change the fuel pulse meter in the TBI and see what happens.

super simple engine... but ya i'd start with fresh fuel and see if it's getting gas (pop the carb top and you should be able to see the injector spraying)... try some starting fluid and see what happens..

I've got an '88 with the same engine.... I got it running enough to find it had a blown HG before I swapped in the volvo b230ft engine

Those fuel pumps don't take well to sitting. I'd check to see if it's got fuel pressure.

I know where the lift hook is to pull it out.

Weren't they called a throw away engine ?

iceracer wrote: Weren't they called a throw away engine ?

I also remember that it was impossible to replace the distributor cap if it had AC. This of course was in a sideways Chevy.

I had no problem with the one in my ITB Fiero.

There's even some guys that run small trucks at Langley Speedway that totally dominate with two S10 pickups with the Iron Duke. And they aren't tube frame trucks with Super Duty engines either.

I remember that a common cause of no-start on these was a loss of ground to the distributor. The distributor grounded through the block, which would stop working after a while. Zip screw into the distributor and a length of wire to a convenient good ground and all is well again.

Noisy, leaky, and down on power but indestructible. Nothing broken on that thing can cost more than $25 to fix or $2 at the JY. 2.5's don't die even if you want them to.

Do your basic spark/fuel checks. if ok but not starting, give it a shot of starting fluid and clean plugs.

Looks like it was a simple clutch safety switch issue. Cleaned the gak off the floor so I could fully depress the clutch, and it fired right up.

Bought it, paid a grand. Look for another thread soon.