89 F150, Hard Start Ignition or Fuel?

My sons truck left him stranded at school the other day, 89 F150, 5.0, auto. I went up to the school and cranked, and cranked, and cranked. Removed the air filter box and with the pedal all the way down it finally started, but it stumbled and blew out some smoke. Drove the truck home and it ran great, started and restarted several times in the driveway. The next day it did the exact same thing, started great in the morning and then hard cranks in the afternoon.

The spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor are all less than 2 years old w/ low miles. I went ahead and replaced the coil. It did it again! I figured the afternoon heat maybe affecting the ignition control module, so I swapped that out, guess what . . .did it again today!!!! I'm stumped:banghead:

So, cap, rotor, wires, and plugs are all less than 2 yrs old and the coil and ICM are brand new. What gives? My last two guess are the distrubutor pickup or low pressure with the fuel pump, however I can hear the fuel pump priming w/ the ignition on & today I tried spraying starting fluid in the TB before starting it and it still did the same thing, hard crank and then finally turned over, stumbled for a second and then ran fine.

He's taking my truck tommorrow and I plan on working on his truck, and all advice is GREATLY appreciated!

* * * * * * U P D A T E * * * * * *

I replace the PCV, Breather, and Fuel Filter this afternoon and just a few minutes ago it did it again and wouldn't start. I can hear the fuel pump priming and smell the fuel after cranking for a minute.

How about IAC, Idle Air Control Motor? The reason I'm suggesting this is because I have spark, I have fuel (plus I tried spraying ether/starting fluid directly into the TB and it didn't start). But each time I have gotten it to start I have had the filter and plastic intake off completely . . more air maybe or coincidence(SP)?

If an IAC stayed closed, could this result in a no-start?

* * * * A N O T H E R U P D A T E * * * *

When it rainis it pours, I did a whole lot of work on the truck yesterday. I took apart the throttle body and it was disgusting! 4 cans of TB cleaner and the carbon and sludge was coming out like syrup! I replaced the TB and put new gaskets on the TB, the EGR, and the IAC valve. I then took it on a spirited test drive to burn all that junk out and while driving it I blew a heater hose, so I replaced the heater hose and also swapped the transmission filter.

During all this the starter died, probably a mixture of age, a lot of cranking, and overheating from the leak. So I replaced the starter this morning.

So far so good, if it does the hard crank I am going to replace the distributor and pickup as I don't feel like rebuilding the distributor and it's not much more to replace the whole thing.

* * * * S T I L L N O T F I X E D * * * *

Well, I just received a call and the boy is stranded again, I am pretty much done at this point and am taking it to a mechanic I suppose.

This is everything that has been done:

New Ignition Coil
New Ignition Control Module
New (Reman) Distributor
New Pickup/Stator
New PCV Valve
New Crankcase Breather
New Fuel Filter
New Starter
New Gas Cap
Cap, Rotor, Plugs, & Wires (all less than 2 yrs old w/ low miles)
Cleaned the TB and replaced the TB Gasket, EGR Gasket, and IAC Gasket

Yet, we still have a hard start, I can usually get it to start after a lot of cranking with the accelerator held down. It then stumbles for a second and blows out smoke which I believe is from all the cranking and being flooded. Once started it runs fine, and it doen't do this every time I start it, in fact it I got it to start great 4 time last night after replacing the distributor every hr or so.

I have no clue at this point, anyone?

* * * TIRED OF DOING UPDATES:runaround: * * *

Replaced the ignition switch last night on advice from the mechanics on this site . . . .truck stalled out in Rev. while backing out of the driveway this morning and once again had the hard start. Yesterday I found out from the boy that it has actually stalled out in reverse a couple times on him and then proceeds to be a hard start.

I picked up a new fuel pressure regulator today and am going to install this once I get home. At this point I'm probably :screwy: for all this plucking and chucking, but it's starting to get personal :evillol:

I forgot to mention that I drove his truck to work today and it is seriously lacking power on the highway, has a slight bucking to it once you let off the gas and it seems to be gulping fuel to me; this is why I am leaning towards the Fuel Pressure Regulator . . .and I'm running out of crap to replace!

Sounds like a fuel issue. Generally speaking, sitting in the sun for a few hours will not cause heat related electronic failure.

What do your plugs look like? What does your spark look like?

Who advised you to replace ignition switch in a car that cranks and starts in "clear flood" mode?

Thanks for looking at my thread and your response.

The advice/mechanic was by clicking 'Driver Side Home' and then 'Who To Trust, Free Advice From Our Mechanics' and then 'Ask Our Mechanics', to be honest the ignition switch seemed a little odd, but I am running out of ideas and I'm a shadetree at best.

My plugs, cap and rotor all look good, everything ignition is pretty much replaced this past week. I have hooked my spark tester (the kind that runs inline, alligator clip and spark plug nipple) and the spark looks great.

I read some of the threads on there this afternoon and replaced the fuel pressure regulator this evening. I'll let you know how she runs tommorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thanks again for your input, it's greatly appreciated.

Joe

* * * U P D A T E * * *

Replaced the fuel pressure regulator last night. I haven't had the hard start yet, but idle is choppy and lacking power on the highway.

I am considering get the ECM/ECU scanned; after reading about it a bit. My understanding is the ECM controls the injector pulses and whatnot and I keep thinking that the problem is w/ something electrical as it is intermitent. I was checking out a website that fixes ECM and they were saying how a lot of people (like me) will end up replacing many of the parts I have when in fact it was the ECM the entire time.

Does this sound like I may be barking down the right path :confused: What do ya'll think?

(This may end up being the longest thread on here!!! I have never been this stumped in all my years turning wrenches on many different vehicles!)

I replaced the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) tonight, truck fired up immediately. Turn it back off, came back outside and was getting ready to go on a test drive and surpise, suprise, suprise, hard start (to be more specifically I couldn't get it to start at all). There were several instances where it would catch just for a second while I was cranking but it wouldn't start.

Fired up this morning but this afternoon it seems the hard start is getting worse, it cranks and cranks and attempts to catch but keeps on cranking.

When we replaced the distributor we clocked it at pretty much the same spot as the old one, which is advanced pretty far, so far it seems the distributor is hitting the thermostat housing. If I can get it running I am going to hook up the timing light and see what it looks like.

I believe I need to get the ECU scanned, but aside from the stealership I am having a hard time finding a place to scan it. I need to pull the ECU and look/smell for burns too.

I'll keep updating this in the event it may help someone else in the future . . .

***** FINALLY FIXED ******

Well I gave in and took it to a shop today along with the list of everything I replaced.

They called me about 2 hours later and found that the ground between the computer and the battery was so corroded that the pins were basically gone. They replaced the connector and then the truck died on them in reverse and wouldn't start

Turns out the coolant temp sensor was also bad, they unplugged it and it fired right up.

To finally put this thread to bed, bad ground on the computer and bad coolant temp sensor (even though fairly new). Hope this helps someone else.

Joe

still running good joe?