Blue8seven

Hi everyone, I just picked up an 87 pickup with the 22r engine and this is the first carbed engine I have ever dealt with. It will not start or remotely try to start. The fuel is going through. Has strong spark on all 4 wires (I know because it shocked the piss out of me testing it) ,I even took the carb off and sprayed starting fluid directly into the intake manifold and I got nothing. my question is is there anything on these trucks that would keep them from running after the basics (fuel,air,spark) ? I thought well maybe it's out of time so I had someone turn it over while I slowly turned the distributor hoping it would catch. Nothing.

Anyways any wisdom would be greatly appreciated as this is my very first toyota, my first truck, and my first carbed engine. Thank you.

mct75

What's the history of the truck? Had it been running?

The timing might be off, otherwise it should at least stumble with good spark and starting fluid.

Blue8seven

Thank you for your reply mct.

The history: 174,000 miles. Rebuild 2,000 miles ago previous owner stated "ran great, then I parked it for 2 weeks and it wouldn't start back up again" he accused a weak spark as the issue. The spark is just fine. The gas smells a little old but I just assumed even older gas would still allow it to crank. I believe that the truck did run fine as he stated it was just registered and insured in June the previous owners insurance card and paperwork are in the glove compartment still. What has me stumped is why wouldn't it at least stumble or try to start after spraying starting fluid directly into the intake manifold with carb removed to the side.

mct75

Like you, I'm just getting started on my toyota as well. I know the distributor/spark timing, and the timing chain itself can be issues. There's been a few people here that bought trucks that have the timing off in a way that it will turn over fine (no valve clash) but there's no compression. If you have the tools, a compression test should point this out really quick.

Hopefully someone who really knows their stuff will jump in soon!

Blue8seven

That's what I'm really hoping it's not (compression) but after having sprayed starting fluid down the intake and still nothing. I have to believe that that's the issue. I'll go by autozone and pick borrow a compression tester and post the results when I get them

superex87

what do the spark plugs look like? clean = not enough fuel. Black = too much fuel.
I would test the compression as that will give you a clue if its timing related and or possible internal damage. Just for fun check the valve clearneces, maybe some how he adjusted them too tight and thus have no compression.

Blue8seven

I actually have been taking the head off, after my last reply I took the valve cover off and noticed the valve clearances were very loose so I adjusted them then turned the engine over and checked them again, way out of spec again, that went on til I had no more room to adjust and realized there were bent valves in the head.

Thank you everyone for your responses I'm sure I'll need your help in the near future.