crotchety old man

Checking the spark at a plug with a screwdriver as suggested is a good idea. I will caution you DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CRANK IT WITH THE COIL WIRE OUT. I mention it because I knew better but had a brain fart and did it on my '99 suburban. I ate up about $500.00 worth of electronics.

Now to the problem, You need to determine for sure if it is TBI or Vortec because the fuel delivery system and the ignition base timing is completely different on the two systems.

Is the air cleaner in the middle of the engine like it normally is on a carburated engine or is it on the right fender panel connected with a flexible rubber duct?

kah6987

It's def a vortec, also did the spark plug thing and it did spark and the color was a yellowish. Also when I pulled the plug, the gap where it sparks seems wide, I have never seen a spark plug on this truck before. That might be How it's supposed to be idk.

crotchety old man

Yellow is a weak spark. The things to check:

First the coil wire. The "wire in them is not wire but carbon impregnated nylon. We had trouble with them burning the "wire" back from the connector on the end. Take the coil wire out and look at both ends to see if it looks like one end or the other is burned. If you have access to an ohm meter check it for continuity. You will not get a zero reading but if you get any reading other than open it is probably ok.

Second pull the distributor cap off and check both top side and underside for any carbon trails. Basically if the cap is shiny with no lines in it again it is probably ok.

Do the same thing with the coil wire tower on the coil, check it carefully for anything that might look like burning.

Check with your local parts house and see if they have any way to test a coil, would not be the first one I have seen that is bad.

The module in the distributor could cause the problem however in all my years I have not seen an electronic dist. module cause a weak spark, they seem to either work or not

Spark plug gap should be in the .045 to .055 range. If you still have the underhood tag they generally list basic info like spark plug gap. If the underhood tag is missing an internet search should find it or call your local parts house.

If you find that the spark plug gap is exceptionally wide you could just try a new set of spark plugs, but I would still check all of the above.

kah6987

OK, so I hit a bit of luck yesterday and got this beast running!! Going to try and make this long story short. So I was in and out of O’Reilly trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with this thing. The last time I went in there the intent was to borrow their computer that checks the check engine light codes. The guy starts asking me about my problems with my truck. He started to ask “well is it doing this……” kind of questions and pretty much nailed every issue I was having. He said I know 99% sure what your problem is.
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MasterPro® Ignition 2-8296 - Coolant Temperature Sensor | O'Reilly Auto Parts
or
GP Sorensen/Fuel Injector (800-1513N) | AutoZone.com
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So he started to tell me how to replace this “Spider Injector” he called it……told me to do a bleed down test? Listen I am no mechanic at all, I might be able to figure some stuff out eventually but time was not on my side. I needed this done before I had to go to work the next day. SOOO, he said I know a guy who does this stuff for a weekend hobby, he can come over and tow you for $30 (fyi I called 4 places to tow me about 10miles, all said $100) and then he can probably fix it before the day is over. MUSIC TO MY EARS!!
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So this guy shows up with a few of his buddies, opens the hood pulls the sensor out (see link #1 at the top) and had his friend turn the key and he throttle the motor with his hand and it eventually fired up. I was shocked. So he DROVE my truck back to his house, replaced the sensor, and most of my spark plugs were pretty much crap so he replace all of those. Also my distributor was misaligned so he fixed that and put some antifreeze in, guess it was really low. *Also he found out that someone had put green antifreeze in this truck and it takes orange and that my radiator was leaking a little bit. So all in all I didn’t have to buy the Spider injector so that saved me $300+ dollars, and it was only some minor parts that cost around $40. Then I had to pay this guy labor for fixing all of this. *Asked him what I owed him and he said $50…..I said you sir are crazy and gave him a check for $100 and still feel like I cheated him. There really are a few good ppl left in this world!!!
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PS…….I guess this Spider Injector is the usual issue, a few ways to check. Pull your dipstick and check your oil. If it is overly full that is one sign, 2nd smell it, if smells like gas that’s your next sign. Then do a bleed down test on your fuel pressure, not 100% what that means but that’s what they told me. Mine didn’t have very much gas in the oil and it passed the bleed down test.
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crotchety old man

Glad everything worked out for you. I thought about the spider but what you were describimg sounded like ign especially with the yellow spark. Glad it is running.

kah6987

Thanks!