Tried to Start my Truck Today...

[Nailhead]

If you can somewhat freely turn the distributor rotor( with the distributor body locked down) 360 degrees by hand something is wrong for sure. Should not be any need to remove the front cover again, to inspect/or replace the drive gear all you should have to do is remove the crank pulley. I would remove the oil pump and distributor first and give them a close inspection, something has broken free or stripped allowing the rotor to turn freely.

I don't know what's going on here-- that shaft did [I]not[I] turn freely before I moved the truck across the yard. At least I don't think it did, but that would explain a lot of things.

Thanks man. I think I'll start with the oil pump & see if the drive gear has come loose somehow.

Stay well.

[Nailhead]

Over this past weekend, it dawned on me that if I can get the 715 running, I could use it to bring the camper to the house from my buddy’s driveway. This would save me the trouble & time of removing the ladder rack & crossover box from my Dodge. It would also look cool.

With this new motivation, I attacked the problem with a methodical mindset...and finally found the problem.

First, I pulled the distributor and got my big screwdriver to check whether that oil pump shaft positively engages with the drive gear (thanks again M38!):



Indeed it does— no movement, no slop. Hmmm...

So I grabbed hold of the Lovejoy couple and the rotor, and tried to turn them against each other— no dice; nothing moved.



Ok, maybe the tab on the distributor shaft isn’t indexing all the way in the oil pump slot? I installed it to check, after an eyeball alignment of the two, and -click- they meshed like they should.

I grabbed hold of the rotor, and with a little effort, I could tell the two were meshed, and then, with just a little more effort, I could turn the rotor freely.

Remember this?



I didn’t pay it much attention, and ground it flush so I could reinstall the distributor back in October.

Inspector Barnaby: “Use your head, Troy— what is the evidence telling you??”

After removing the distributor again, I held the rotor and the end of the shaft and twisted.

That roll pin somehow broke and worked its way partially out. It told me so months ago, but I ignored it. Now I just have to figure a way to get it out of there without a vise to hold the distributor shaft in place.

My dad— the best mechanical diagnostician I’ve ever met— is shaking his finger and head at me from the grave right now, saying “I taught you better than that.”

It’s true— he did.

[m38inmaine]

Good job, keep at it and you will get it done.

[Nailhead]

Good job, keep at it and you will get it done.

Thanks man!

So, utilizing found objects and the proper tools, I got that pin out:







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[Nailhead]

A trip to the local hardware store & 66 cents later, I had two new roll pins in hand (I always buy a spare or two, a habit left over from living in Wyoming where the hardware store was a 50-mile round trip away).



Done.

Now to get buttoned up & running.

How hard can it be?

Thanks, Jezza.


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[Nailhead]

Yet another round of optimism ground into the dust.

I installed the distributor, verified TDC with the valve cover off, set the crankshaft to 5º BTC, installed #1 plug wire in the cap to correspond to the rotor position, and installed the other wires according to the firing order on the valve cover, CCW. Oddly enough, the wires were arranged to fire CW.

Anyway, all that resulted was either hard cranking or loud backfires. It seems I absolutely cannot make this truck run.

I quit while I was ahead because I'm all out of spare valve covers.

I'm going to get a compression tester from O'Reilly's, do a compression test, and if that comes out ok, offer to trade it back to Harry for the money I owe on the IH. He just finished his Terra, so he needs something to busy the hands.

If that compression test is bad (Harry suggested it because he thinks that grenade backfire last fall holed a piston), I'll see if he'll take it plus cash. Either way, I'm done with it: I simply don't have the time to continually vaporize with one disappointment after the other trying to figure out how to make this truck of some use. It's like getting back together with the worst girlfriend I ever had.

[m38inmaine]

Verify you on #1 TDC by taking out #1 spark plug, hold your finger over the plug hole, as you rotate up to TDC verify you have air pushing out. It's easy to think you are on #1 TDC when you are not.

[Nailhead]

Verify you on #1 TDC by taking out #1 spark plug, hold your finger over the plug hole, as you rotate up to TDC verify you have air pushing out. It's easy to think you are on #1 TDC when you are not.

I verified it with the position of the #1 cam lobe and the marking on the pulley: Cam lobe straight down, both rockers loose, "0" on the pulley lined up with the indicator line. I found early in this adventure (November?) it was easy to end up 180 out with the #1 piston & timing mark both fooling me if I didn't pull the valve cover & verify cam position.

The pulley keyway was undamaged, as were the keyway in the crankshaft and the key itself, the rubber dampener is in serviceable condition locating the pulley securely, so I really don't have any reason to doubt the veracity of the timing marks embossed thereon.

Don't know, man.

Appreciate the help, though.

[brute4c]

Wow...a first and a real head scratcher put to bed...bout time it got resolved...not for lack of effort though...GREAT job being persistent!!

[Nailhead]

Wow...a first and a real head scratcher put to bed...bout time it got resolved...not for lack of effort though...GREAT job being persistent!!

I appreciate the kudos, Jon, but at this point that & a buck will get me a cup of coffee, if you know what I mean.

How did it run with the firing order on the distributor cap reversed?

How did it run at all I wonder?

I'd really, really like to have this running by the weekend so I can haul my camper. Apparently, it's Memorial Day, and it snuck up on me.

When the beer the wears off I'll realize it'll be a bunch easier & quicker to remove the ladder rack & box from the Dodge, haul the camper that way, and let the the M715 harmlessly collect leaves and other airborne detritus like it has been for the last six months. It's just better that way. Blood pressure stays down, stuff like that.