I was driving and the engine shut down, then caught , a minute later it did it again, caught, ran for a minute then shut down. Pulled to the side and tried to start it but it cranked no start.
. The check engine light was not illuminated, nor was the tach working. I bought a recon ECM/ECU, full distributor assembly, wires, EFI relay and sending relay, plugs, i checked for voltage,fuses, new fuel pump. Replaced the wiring connector to the distributor. As well as the coil and ignitor.
Yesterday i pulled the plugs to check gap , drained the tank and put 5 gallons mid grade gas with Lucas fuel system cleaner.
It still cranks no start, tach not working, I have spark , and I can smell the gas when I get close to the intake, not huge,but it gives me the impression my pump is working.
I am stumped, and really don't want to be fumbling about. Does anybody have any suggestions, advice, positive thoughts, bottle of whiskey. In that order? Thanks all!!

 

Did it just cut out or did it sputter out?
Maybe fuel filter clogged and not enough fuel. You say you can smell it, no fuel line leaks anywhere that would be causing delivery issues?

My other guess is maybe something with the timing if the fuel system checks out. Timing belts can slip a tooth sometimes...was the distributor tightened down enough?

 

I was thinking it may be a clogged fuel filter myself. It did cough yesterday, stuttered then nada. I am leaning towards a fuel filter. Why not, i have replaced darn near everything else. Any ideas to why the tach wouldn't show any movement while cranking? I read that the sending relay sometimes takes a dump and the connector can be repinned to jump the power to the pump from start up to constant hot when key is in run position. I am going to replace the fuel filter now. Be right back. Thanks for any advice you can give. I also will be selling my 90 4rnnr 4x4 3.0 auto. Info upon request. It just cut out no sputter.

 

Hmm. I think that's the definition of "parts cannon."

Put the inductive pickup of your timing light on each plug wire. If the light flashes, the plug is firing. If not, back up and check the HV lead from coil to distributor. (The tach signal comes from the distributor; it only indirectly measures crank speed).

Jumper TE1 to E1 to check for stored codes. Remember that "no" codes is 2-hz flashing. If you get no CEL, you probably need to put the old ECM back in.

Jumper B+ to FP and listen for the fuel pump (key-on). Replace the FPR return line with a 6mm (1/4") clear vinyl line to a suitable container. Run the pump with the jumper. There is no spec, but I get about 1/2 lt/min. (Don't "crack" a high pressure line. Not only ridiculously dangerous, you have to replace the crush washers every time you do that. Every time.)

You heard you could "re-pin" a connector to get the fuel pump to run constantly with key-on? What happens if you get into an accident that breaks a fuel line? Not only will you die, it will take a few minutes of fire before you're done.

Good luck!

 

Like the gentleman above said tach comes from distributor so something may be off or bad within the wiring. Id run through the steps he outlined to further diagnose ignition side of things and diagnostic codes.

 

Thanks guys. Thanks to the person who linked the service manual. That helped me also.looked at the ignition diagram. The distributor is new, total. Cap rotor. Shaft all of it. Maybe when I installed the shaft I missed something.tune in next week, when I finally...............

 

We understand. You don't (and never did) know what was wrong, but you hoped it was just "a" bad part. So you changed a part that seemed logical, then another, and another. All getting you no closer to a solution. That's why we're suggesting you try to diagnose the problem.

When you replaced the distributor, you had to "re-stab" it. The helical gear has 13 teeth, so if you are off a tooth your timing will be off by about 28°. Or, you could be off by 180° (actually, 166° or 194°) because you had the wrong TDC when you inserted the distributor. Try looking at the rotor when the engine is at TDC. If off about 1/2 turn, turn the crank one more time back to the next TDC. The rotor should be about 10° (timing advance) after the #1 plug post. If more like 24° you could be on the wrong TDC (or your timing could be way off).

Since you don't know your problem, just having new parts doesn't mean they work at all, or are installed correctly, or have their supporting wiring correct.

 

OK. I need to go back and reinstall the distributor. I guess I got lucky the 3 or so times I have replaced them before. When I rotated the distributor it did cough and then backfired.i do believe I funked up on the install. Thank goodness I am still a full time student at YouTube University, you know I have quite a few Master degrees, working on a P.hD now. My thesis is why are students dumber today with all the access to information available today.

 

OK. Question. I pulled the old distributor and installed the new distributor without any reference marks. I rotated the engine to 0 mark on balancer the rotor is at 12:02,03 position.my mark for #1 TDC is 11:00 . How do I know if I'm on the compression stroke or exhaust stroke given no marks for reference. I feel compression on the stroke, but I want to verify that I am on the Comp. Stroke.

 

I have all three marks lined up.

Both cams line up.

Crank is lined up.

Waaaay off. Should i tpuul the distributor and set it up with rotor shaft and gear aligned and then test?

 

Man, I crapped on everything. I checked the rotor and found I had put it in 180 off. Now the rotors position is;

Had rotor installed 180 off. This is the correct position. However TDC is 11 postion. I gues now i pull it and line everything up and reinstall. Brb