Build Let's Baseline my new to me 1993 Land Cruiser

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Irish Reiver said:
I am assuming you did but you never mentioned it. Did you try and start it after you confirmed all the injectors were plugged in? If so what happened? I know your battery was shot so apologies for the question...
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Good question! So I hooked up my battery and it was pretty discharged. I hooked up my booster and tried cranking it up. It just cranks tries to turn over. Once it almost sounded like it was going to sputter to life, but that was after a long crank 7-8 seconds. So no real change when the injectors are all seated and checked.

So to confirm: I know fuel is moving through the rail via FSM test with diagnostic. I also know coil is making spark. Plugs and wires are all hooked up. Distributor is positioned correctly and not 180. I don’t know that the plugs are sparking, but I’ll test no.1 tomorrow and confirm.
 
I’ll plan on working slowly through the troubleshooting section in the FSM. In theory I should figure out what’s up. I’m as curious as @SteelHunterFJ80 to see who the culprit is.

But let’s not kid ourselves! I have totally missed some stupid thing, just have to figure out what the heck it is!
 
Check out the KOH 2022 thread. Lots of people there cruising the land the hard way.
 
Is your crank shaft position sensor plugged in?
 
baldilocks said:
Check out the KOH 2022 thread. Lots of people there cruising the land the hard way.
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I would like to build the skills to do that. Impressive sir!
 
TYM4FUN said:
Is your crank shaft position sensor plugged in?
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I think so? I don’t think I would have unplugged this, but I’ll have a look tonight.
 
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Ok, I have my initial check list from the FSM trouble shooting EG-8 section. I’m starting with the “Does not start: no initial cumbustion” line. I’ve organized a list in the order of priority according to the FSM:
  1. Distributor IG-17
  2. Ignition Circuit IG-5
  3. EFI main relay EG-297
  4. Circuit opening Relay EG-298
  5. Volume Air Flow circuit EG-240
  6. Fuel Pump EG-252
  7. Fuel Quality
  8. IAC Valve EG-294
  9. Compression EG-27
  10. Valve Timing EG-73
  11. Timing Chain EG-87
  12. RPM signal circuit IG-5
  13. ECM EG-317
So looking over this list I think the most likely things are the VAF connection, the distributor/plug wires, these are hr things I have manipulated. Not on the list are the injectors. I’ll need my neighbor to crank while I use the stethoscope to listen for functioning.
 
I still feel like I’m missing something obvious. It’s silly that this thing was running before, but I can’t seem to get her going.
 
I'd have the battery load tested since it's dying so easy.

You have spark. You have fuel. It should fire.

The low compression would have to be really really low. Old ford's fire with like 7.5:1

One or two bad plug wires will still try and start and likely run. I've run v8's with 1 bank.

If you're worried about compression and dry rings dump a little mystery oil in each cylinder and let it sit.
 
Dusten said:
I'd have the battery load tested since it's dying so easy.

You have spark. You have fuel. It should fire.

The low compression would have to be really really low. Old ford's fire with like 7.5:1

One or two bad plug wires will still try and start and likely run. I've run v8's with 1 bank.

If you're worried about compression and dry rings dump a little mystery oil in each cylinder and let it sit.
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Thanks, great info. I’m battery shopping anyhow. Battery is from 2016, and has been drained a few times, so I’ll get it load tested.

I’m not worried about compression per se, but I am curious. Will report when I have more information.
 
PNWTreeOctopus said:
Thanks, great info. I’m battery shopping anyhow. Battery is from 2016, and has been drained a few times, so I’ll get it load tested.

I’m not worried about compression per se, but I am curious. Will report when I have more information.
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Do you think your dizzy is off a tooth / timing?
 
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Update:

Remember that nice organized list I wrote up last night? Well my squirrel brain took over and I abandoned it...but I will be returning. I decided to get that battery tested. It actually tested ok given it’s age and history: its from 2016 and a Les Schwab battery the PO bought, but given its age and the fact that cranking it a couple of times kills it I pulled the trigger on a new one. The new battery is a Dekka and seems to have tons more power, but despite cranking the engine hard and fast, it didn't solve my no start.

Well, actually thats not entirely true, I did actually get the engine to start, which was a big improvement. It was barely "idling" at around 200 rpm for a 30 seconds or so. That was a huge new development since it seems like I was nearly there. I tried to give it some gas, but no real response, both at the pedal and at the throttle body. I started it second time and again no throttle response and barely chugging along at 200 rpm. So my initial thought was that it was the timing/ distributor not lined up.

So I cranked the HB over to 0 TDC and pulled the distributor. I put it back in teeth lined up, but after that I couldn’t get it to start.

I headed over to NAPA bough some starting fluid came home sprayed some in the TB and still couldn’t get it to start.

After that I felt a little frustrated, both that the cruiser wouldn’t start, and that I got off track.

So I do actually think this is distributor related, mostly because this is my first time trying to get one sorted out. I will proceed again tomorrow verifying 0 TDC with a chopstick and lining up the distributor.

thanks for the suggestions and ideas. I’m learning as I go, but I feel more confident that I’m closing in on the issue.
 
G, have you checked your throttle rig? I wonder if that has something to do with your lack of response once you got the truck started. Maybe it’s also jacking up your starting process. Iirc, I had to adjust the cable quite a bit when I had mine apart. I even marked it with paint but I still had to adjust many times to dial her in. Just a thought
 
I imagine my throttle cable could use adjustment too, but I’ll rule out distributor woes first.

I read a thread last night about distributor installation and being off a tooth. Some very clearly laid out instructions from Flintknapper and Bilt4me. Plus links to Otramms distributor install and timing videos.

While I’m not certain that this is what’s going on I am certain that I’d like to try again. I think I’m rotating the distributor without realizing it and I’m way off. I’m hopeful that this is what’s going on. I’ll get a chance to dive in this afternoon, but I might be delayed until tomorrow or Friday….because we’ll I apparently move at a glacial pace.
 
Man, sorry you're having such a hard time getting this rig running. Like P said, adjust your throttle cable first. Distributors are not that complicated and there really is only one way it can go on correctly and it sounds like you've done that already and double checked it.

It always comes down to spark, fuel, and air. It sounds to me your not getting enough fuel pressure for some odd reason. Any chance your fuel pump isn't working or there is a fuel syphoning problem coming from your tank,possibly a clogged charcoal canister. The fact that your getting it to idle at all would rule out the distributor.

Your day will come, keep at it!
 
Great feedback! Thanks everyone. My wife took me skiing today so no cruiser work this morning.

When I carve out a couple solid hours I’ll get back on track. I’m still suspicious that the distributor is the issue, rather than fuel. I did the diagnostic port fuel test when I got the car to pump gas through the rail and return.

The reason why I suspect distributor still is that I sprayed a liberal amount of starting fluid in the throttle body and it would t fire. So it seems like no spark. So I’ll start with the distributor at square one and see where I land.

I probably need to address my throttle cable too it looks like the cable housing is broken near the ferrule at the TB. So it possible it’s contributing as well, however the throttle pedal still moves the cable.

So maybe I’ll have this glacier moving this weekend. I’d really like that Starbucks…
 
I pulled the distributor again following FSM procedure. I then pulled spark plug no.1 and confirmed with a chopstick that Cylinder 1 was on compression (chopstick sticks up out of spark plug tube, when on exhaust stroke it falls beyond reach in the tube). I reinstalled the distributor and give it a try. No love from the Cruiser.

So I'm currently working on getting my lady to help me check that spark is actually getting from the distributor to the plug. At this point that is my best guess, but number 2 is that the injectors are somehow not firing. I think I need a remote start switch gizmo so im not handicapped by working solo. Anyhow, stopping for lunch and to take some deep breaths. Hard not to feel a bit frustrated/discouraged/foolish that I can get this thing to start. Meh.
 
PNWTreeOctopus said:
I pulled the distributor again following FSM procedure. I then pulled spark plug no.1 and confirmed with a chopstick that Cylinder 1 was on compression (chopstick sticks up out of spark plug tube, when on exhaust stroke it falls beyond reach in the tube). I reinstalled the distributor and give it a try. No love from the Cruiser.

So I'm currently working on getting my lady to help me check that spark is actually getting from the distributor to the plug. At this point that is my best guess, but number 2 is that the injectors are somehow not firing. I think I need a remote start switch gizmo so im not handicapped by working solo. Anyhow, stopping for lunch and to take some deep breaths. Hard not to feel a bit frustrated/discouraged/foolish that I can get this thing to start. Meh.
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Hang in there your getting close. There are only so many variables to go through. You'll figure it out.
 
SteelHunterFJ80 said:
Hang in there your getting close. There are only so many variables to go through. You'll figure it out.
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Thank you. I know I'm nearly there, just tamping down the impatience. Onward.
 
You can check spark yourself. Pull #3 plug and attach back to wire and lay in on top of the intake manifold so the plug is grounding itself out. Pull the EFI relay so it does not start up. You should be able to see spark from the driver's seat. That is how I confirmed mine.
 
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