84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

cherokeerednek
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Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:46 pm

84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

Unread post by cherokeerednek » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:52 pm

I have a 84 Chevy 4x4 with a 350. It will start but no idle or drive. I have replaced all most everything but the motor and tranny. help don't wanna sell her. Thx Cheyenne. :cry:

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carriedi
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Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:42 pm

Re: 84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

Unread post by carriedi » Fri Dec 20, 2013 2:08 am

does it start and stay running if you pump the gas pedal? Does is start and dies right away? You say you replaced almost everything, what was the original problem and what have you done to try and fix it. If you came to ma and just told me what the car was doing I would probably have a strategy to diagnose the problem. When you have changed a lot of parts and tried to fix it yourself first I need to know what the original problem was and all the things you have done because you may have thrown more into the mix that might cover up or make more difficult to find what was the problem was. It might be more than one problem now.

You know that you need fuel, spark and compression in order to have an engine run. So what do you have and what don't you have? Was this a driving truck and one day it just wouldn't run? Was this a rinning truck and one day died while you were driving and never started and drove again? Is this a truck that hasn't run for a long time and you are trying to get started now?

When this problem first occurred did you check for spark? If it starts and you can keep it running by pumping the gas I would be looking at the carb. If it starts every time but dies right away when you bring the key to the run position check power at your coil.
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cherokeerednek
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Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:46 pm

Re: 84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

Unread post by cherokeerednek » Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:31 pm

I bought the truck for my husband as a Christmas gift. It is a project truck. We got it not running. The guy said the trans was slipping bc the filter was bad. So we changed it the manifold gaskets the spark plugs, the desibater sorry no its spelled wrong. The spark plug wires,got the timing right fixed the starter fluid pump, took the vac off it bc where I live we done need it. Pluged the vac holes off. Put a new air filter and oil filter on her. Put tranny fluid, oil in her. Fresh gas. I no one of the freeze plugs is leaking but not to bad to cause a big problem. Put a brand new battery in her. Put a new tranny filter and oil pan on her. Were out of ideas. Shes getting spark and will turn over on her own after 2 or 3 trys. We have to hold the choke open sometimes. Or keeping pumping the gas peddle or the throtle. We got her to idle once. We have started her and moved the idle screw to see if that helped but nope. We've put gas in the carb and tried starter fluid. We cleaned out the pistions.

cherokeerednek
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Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:46 pm

Re: 84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

Unread post by cherokeerednek » Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:36 pm

We also changed the starter coil. The guy said it started slipping so he parked it but I can tell its been parked for a long time. I no theres nothing wrong w the tranny. Only thing we ready didn't change is the motor, tranny, charboraterand the egr vale or the egr sencer. She acts like shes not getting enough gas. The truck has dual tanks and only the passenger side works so we put gas in the tank and switched it to the passenger side.

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carriedi
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Re: 84 Chevy ck1500 will start but not idle or drive.

Unread post by carriedi » Fri Dec 20, 2013 7:53 pm

If it ran for a while and then stopped it sounds to me like it would be a fuel problem too. There are many things you can do to check out what is going on without a lot of test equipment but they could be hazardous if you don't do them correctly. and sometimes hazardous even if you are careful.

what happened when you used starting fluid? Gas will go bad it it sits around for long periods of time. Even if you put new gas you still have old gas in the tank, lines and carb. without trying to start the engine open the choke and look down the carburetor. With you hand pump the throttle all the way a couple of times. Did you see a stream of gas spray down the barrels of the carb? That would be from the accelerator pump. they prime the system before you start up or pump extra fuel when you accelerate. If you didn't see streams of fuel your carb may not have any gas in it. (Or the accelerator may be bad) If you did see gas then go inside the truck and try to start it up. If it cranks over but doesn't start try holding the gas pedal to the floor and crank the engine over for a while. It may be flooded. after cranking the engine over for a while do you smell gas out of the tailpipe? (a sign that it may be flooded)

On the work that you have done, why did you do the distributor? if the truck was running before it was parked you should only do things that relate to a hard start. Changing the distributor and wires may have made your job harder to diagnose now. How did you set your timing without starting the truck and using a timing light? you're going to have to make sure the distributor timing is correct and that you firing order is correct before you can do anything else.

You say you did the manifold gaskets... for the exhaust manifold or the intake manifold? Why did you do them? is there another name for your starter fluid pump? Took the vacuum lines off so your vehicle doesn't use vacuum for the heater mode and doors? Does the distributor have vacuum advance? if it does is the vacuum for that still on? No EGR on your truck? If your truck came with an egr valve it will actually run better if it is hooked up. (will get less engine ping when it gets hot or on acceleration)

so first thing make sure you're getting spark at the right time.

make sure you are getting fuel from your carb. accelerator pump and idle ports. make sure it is not flooded.

and see what happens
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bigrig9135
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Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 12:22 am

98 silverado will fire but not idle

Unread post by bigrig9135 » Tue Feb 10, 2015 12:27 am

I just installed a new 5.0 vortec and it will fire up for about 1 sec and then it will die. I am getting fuel but won' keep running.any ideas would be helpful.

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carriedi
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Re: 98 silverado will fire but not idle

Unread post by carriedi » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:14 pm

is your security light coming on? you might need to reprogram your security to the key. it will allow a start up but then turn off your injector pulse killing the engine
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bigrig9135
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Re: 98 silverado will fire but not idle

Unread post by bigrig9135 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:06 am

thanks can you tell me how to reset the security??

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carriedi
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Re: 98 silverado will fire but not idle

Unread post by carriedi » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:16 am

put the key in the ignition and turn to start for just a split second and then leave the key in run with the engine not running for 10 minutes. then turn the key off for 10 seconds. Sometimes it may take more than one time but usually one time will reset the module.
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