I have an 89 with a V6. It was running fine, shut if off and now it will not start. It cranks over fine, but does not fire. Other than lack of spark or fuel what would be the cause?

It was to cold to stand outside and figure it out. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Gotta start with the basics there. Like the saying goes, you need three things- fuel, air, spark. The coil and fuel pump are easy enough to check. At least, when it isn't in the teens if you have to be outside. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

It must be one of the two. Determine which and go from there. Others have had problems over time with the ignition switch getting on and misbehaving.

Or the ecu just died. Fishy smell when you open the case. If it's got spark, that's a good sign for the ecu...

I"m betting on the fuel pump...

timing belt

The tests, from easiest to hardest:

1. spark test - pull the coil wire from the dizzy, insert phillips head screwdriver in the end, hold the well insulated driver handle so the wire is 1/4" from a good ground (coil bracket) and have a helper crank the truck. Fast hot spark blue white in color means you've got fire.

2. basic fuel test - immediately following test 1, run around to the tailpipe and check for a gassy smell.

3. timing belt - remove dizzy cap and have helper crank the truck. does the dizzy rotor turn? if not, timing belt is gone.

4. fuel pump test (sound of running) - pull cargo area carpet and remove access hatch to fuel pump area (forward floor driver's sideish) and have helper crank truck, and with a rod of steel or wood on the fuel lines, listen for the sound of the pump running. You can just cycle the ignition from off to run, and the pump should run for a couple of seconds to keep from having to listen over the sound of the engine cranking.

test these and report back...

A voice from the far cold north:

You may have water in your gasline which has frozen in the cold weather. Put some HEET gasline antifreeze in your tank (yellow or red bottle). If this is the problem, once it warms up the engine will start up and the water will be absorbed so the problem won't happen again.

Good luck.

I went down the next day and it started. I drove it home ( 1 mile ) without incident. I've started it several times since then, but haven't driven it any distance.

So at the moment no problem is no problem. Previous to this there haven't been any issues. I've owned it since Sept 2009. The truck has 130K with an unknown maintenance record. The PO had done a slight tune up ( cap, wires and plugs ) but nothing more.

I've flooded it before and it would start with some coaxing. In this case it was completely dead, turning over without any hint at starting.

Thanks for all the input and I'll keep you posted.

These were the exact symptoms my '89 Raider had before the fuel pump died entirely. After being parked in the shade at work it would refuse to start in the evening. I could crank it 'till the cows came home, but it wouldn't even attempt to light off. Next morning, when it was sitting in the sun it would fire right up and run fine for a day or two. Finally the pump died completely. There's a good trouble-shooting guide on MontyMcV's website if you need it. You can search my user name for some posts around 10/06 - 11/06 (Gosh, has it been that long??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />) for the issues I had regarding my fuel pump replacement.

Eric W.

Ok - new details. The truck starts fine all the time when it's cold or hot. It's only when the temp guage is at the notch between C and normal operating temp that it seems to have an issue. The symptoms are that the engine just about catches on the first start. Then it's dead after that. It's almost like it is flooded. Once the engine cools enough it will start.

This is an 89 with a 3.0 - has anyone else experienced this? The ambient temp is in the mid 20's and this has happened in this temp range.

Thanks for any hints.