Hey everybody!

I recently acquired a 1977 Chevrolet K10 Pickup. It use to belong to my uncle and had been sitting for 5 years before I picked it up.

At first, the engine would run, but roughly. So,

-I replaced the spark plugs. No fix.

Then,

-I replaced the spark plug wires, coil, and distributor cap. Now, the engine won't even start.

-Reinstalled the old distributor cap and coil. Still doesn't start.

So,

-Took off the carburetor and rebuilt it. Rebuilt carb still doesn't help. Truck won't start.
-The carb is receiving gas; gas is coming out of the accelerator pump nozzles, both primary and secondary.

And,

-I have checked the timing. When the rotor button is pointing towards cylinder #1, the timing pointer is at TDC. Looking at and feeling cylinder #1's rocker arms, both have movement at that time so both the intake and exhaust valves are closed.

The whole thing doesn't make much sense. You would think that replacing these items would improve the engine, not make it unable to start. Could it be the older gas causing problems? Pouring gas into the carb does no different than pumping the accelerator; it tries to start but just barely catches and cuts off.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I can check or do next? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

recheck the plug wires, making sure they go where they should. sounds dumb i know, but it happens. double check that power and ground wires to dist/coil are attached right. test coil as well.

 

Thanks maxxman04, but all that has been checked at least 4 to 5 times.
That's the reason I decided to get on here to see if anyone had any other ideas of what it could be.

Thank you for the advice!

If you or anyone else has any more ideas please let me know.

 

have you checked to make sure you have at least 12.5 volts at batt terminal on distributor? also, have you pulled a plug and grounded it with plug wire still attached to check for spark? could be coil is shot. maybe ignition module or pickup coil inside distributor.

 

I used a spark testing device where you screw out a portion to provide a large gap to see if the spark can cross the gap. It did so I am assuming that everything is okay. One thing that I haven't done is clean the spark plugs. The plugs were covered in black carbon; could that stop it from starting?

 

it most certainly can. that's an indication that motor is running rich, too much gas. could be too that plugs are old. $10 for a set of plugs, see if that does the trick.

 

The spark plugs are brand new, I just replaced them. However, I went ahead and cleaned them off, and still no luck.

So, today I tried something else. The truck won't start at all, but when fuel is added directly into the carburetor the truck will run for a couple of seconds.

Checked the fuel pump, it seems to be pumping enough gas into the carburetor.

I just rebuilt the carburetor, is there anything else it could be?

 

You could have bad gas going through the carb. You may need to drain the tank, and refill with fresh gas.

 

@Nauticastar87 Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I've poured some newer gas into the tanks, but that didn't help. The gas looks clean and smells fresh. However, like you said, I might have to try draining.

 

i assume that you have checked to make sure gas is in fact getting to the carb? if it is, then you can pretty much assume that it's something inside the carb.