OK. I was given an 87 F150 XLT with power everything. anyways, the engine was only getting about 7-8 mpg. so i took the upper and lower intake manifold off and had it cleaned at napa auto parts. its was also having a little idling problem where the rpms would rise and fall, rise and fall, ...and so on. i replaced the idle air control valve, the air charge temp. sensor, coolant temp sensor, cleaned out the EGR Valve and got a whole gasket replacement kit. also replaced the thermo. and gasket, and the valve cover gaskets and bolts. when i took it apart i took the distributor out but marked every piece that came off of it and where it was connected. i made sure the to mark the spark plug wires and where the rotor button was located inside the distributor so the gears would line up. WELL, this is my problem. when i put it all back to gether,,, i had a few bolts left over...haha, nothing major. just bracket screws for vac hoses and wires and stuff. anyways, it ran alright for my first time EVER, taking an engine half way apart. it sounded like it was missing on one cylinder. after about 5 days it went to missing 2 cylinders ( just a guess of how it was running) and after that it started acting like it wanted to cut off if i didnt keep a little gas on it. now it wont even start. it will turn but wont crank and stay started. ive tried loosening the distributor bolt and turning the distributor a little each way, but to no avail it wont fire up. what the hell should i do now. i wonder how much it would cost me to get it looked at and / or fixed!!! any help greatly appreciated.

 

Your idle up and down problem could have been the TPS having issues. Depending on what engine????

 

scan codes, test fuel pressure, make sure EVERYTHING you did is retightened correctly

 

and you might as well bring #1 cyl. to top dead and retime

 

Don't adjust timing w/o a timing light!

 

OR... you could notice that this thread is 3 and a half years old.

 

good point, i dont usually check dates when its on the first page of the section lol

 

Sean has oil older than that!

 

lol i didnt even notice. got me too

 

I'm not naming names, as to who actually dug this gem up & dusted it off, but............! (Circa 07' start's around pg.#430!!!)