Diagnosing a no-start condition

[werewolfx13]

Good news, I have spark. Now my only problem left (I hope) is my new starter needs to be shimmed..its acting like its way too tight. Part of the lack of spark was a low battery, which I thought I ruled out by charging it, which would have been true except my 25 year old battery charger kicked the bucket, and only puts out 10.3v. Dropped the battery off at AZ to have it charged, picked it up, dropped it in, tried to start, but the truck cranks like something is "too tight", however, I checked for spark again and got a decent looking spark..Once the shim is in, I think I'll be free and clear, needing only to tweak the timing a little...If not, my next course of action is to pick up a matched set of batteries and build a drivers battery tray, which I've been meaning to do for over a year now anyway.

[werewolfx13]

The truck is running, the starter ended up not needing to be shimmed, I just advanced the timing til it started fine, and there is no sound of a dragging starter..I'm going to have to play with the springs a bit to see if I can turn the dist back a little, although I can't actually time it correctly, as the timing tab has been removed at some point.

[choptop]

Fuuny thing is, thats how I set the timing on most of mine anyway. turn it till it drags when cranking, then back it of till it starts quickly. Lock it down and enjoy. May not be correct but works for me.

[werewolfx13]

Garr, headaches galore..Truck drove fine running errands before work, got me to work, on my way home from work however, I went around a curve and it died, I figured the timing being off a bit still, i just let the idle drop too low..so I pull over, put er in park, and try to start. nothing..no crank, nothing. I assume the ignition switch has shifted, so I reach under the dash and grab the switch, and something touches the back side of my hand and burns the pee out of it, i flip the switch off, but everything stays on, then smoke begins rising from under the dash, very quickly..I popped the hood, bailed out and yanked the ground and power terminals off the battery asap..Peek under the dash and a decent size bundle of factory taped wires are no longer taped, and are also no longer individually insulated, instead are now about a single 4/0 cable. So, I'll probably fix my car and drive it this winter while I either rebuild the wiring harness, or replace it with a painless harness. All i have to say now is..nuts.

[team39763]

AWWW MAN! That sucks bro, I hope you can get it sorted out soon.  I vote for the painless harness.  All the painless stuff that I've worked with has been great. Good luck with it dude.

[VileZambonie]

That sucks man but make sure you check your wires going to the starter and up to the junction block. You should have fusible links there. If you had proper circuit protection there it shouldn't have burned up your harness. If the ignition switch wasn't installed correctly it could very well be the culprit. You should be able to get a pigtail or dodnor harness and just replace the faulted wires. Good luck