StevenH9

My 1989 4.9 inline 6 died in the middle of an intersection yesterday. Didn’t sputter or stall just shut off like I had turned it off with a key. I got it on a trailer and towed home. Now I’m at a loss it cranks but won’t start. I have checked that there is power to and from the coil pack with a test light, replaced the ignition control module, made sure the rotor is turning inside the distributor while cranking, I removed a plug wire and made sure I was getting spark through the distributor to the plugs, ground from the battery is good, both of my In tank fuel pumps prime when the key is turned to the on position, the relief valve on the fuel rail will spray gasoline when pin is depressed,

any my suggestions are appreciated thanks

Steve83

Spraying gas is dangerous & pointless. Use a gauge:



Is the frame fuel pump running? Does the rotor spin smoothly during cranking? Is the timing indicator still synchronized to the rotor position (when the rotor points to #1, is the balancer near the 0° mark)? What's the truck's maintenance & repair history?

StevenH9

Timing is about 5 degrees off of 0 when rotor is turned towards plug wire 1 on distributor. and the in line fuel pump is turning on when the key is turned, the rotor does turn smoothly in the distributor, I purchased the truck with around 44k miles on it with maintenance and service records from the dealership (serviced every 5000 miles) it was only driven as a trash truck until I bought it 2 years ago and since then it’s been my daily driver for work and it’s accumulated another 20k miles in the past 2 years I change the oil and check plugs and filters (air, fuel, oil) every 7000 miles since it’s been mine I will be going to purchase a fuel pressure tester in a few hours when I can get a ride will post that info when possible

Steve83

I consider driving a 20+year-old truck to be "Severe Driving Conditions". So I think the oil should be changed every 3Kmi - not 7. Look at the last line in item 5 of this diagram:


(phone app link)


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That's what I've done to mine for the past ~20 years, and it runs like-new with roughly a million miles on the engine. You might be able to borrow/rent the gauge from a parts store, instead of buying it to use once or twice. Call around. This diagram shows how the fuel system is built, but follow the link in the caption to the reservoir photo album:


(phone app link)

wde3477

Welcome to the site!
In my volumes of band camp stories - this one time, had a similar event. Engine would roll over and hit, but then died when the key was released. Turned out to be the ignition switch, fell apart when removed for inspection.

Sounds like you have fuel pressure on the rail - Have you checked the plugs after trying to start - are they wet, indicating the injectors are firing?