Where is everyone #5

@Lysdexis
I been battling my E model cat recently also.
It runs like a well oiled machine, but
all of sudden it started to need a 5 to 30 second crank to fire up. Normally it is runnin in a millisecond. It doesn't matter if I shut it off for a few seconds and try to start it, or it sits a day or more.
Same long crank.

Put a new fuel return regulater/check valve and a new hand primer pump on it.
No change. Checked fuel pressure. It will immediately hit well over 100 while cranking and 85 to 90 running.
Hand pump is good and hard to pump even after it sits a while so I don't believe it's an air in the fuel problem.

A couple days ago I noticed that my tac will read for the first split second when cranking and then drop to nothing. Just before it decides to start the tac will start reading again. Doesn't matter if it's cranking for 5 seconds or 5 minutes. When that tac needle moves it fires every time.
I'm convinced the fuel system is good and it's on the electrical side of things, even though it has no codes at all according to a pimple faced kid who hooked up to it.
The engine wiring harness is only a year old and checks out good for rubs/wear and tare. I cleaned all wiring connections, grounds ECT.
Still same problem.

Ran into a guy this week that swore up and down he had the same exact problem and it turned out to be the crank sender. When the tec probed deep into the operating system it had 70 sum thousand faults but didn't show on a normal operating scan.
I unplugged both the crank and cam senders separately while the engine is running and it doesn't miss a beat.
So I'm assuming there both good but am gonna replace the crank one anyway.

Ain't chasing ghost problems fun. Lol.

 

Hands down my ol danger ranger. Sky blue with different color spots. LWB with the bedside caves in 4 banger 5 speed cord showing on every may pop. Used as much oil as gas lmao. #### thing is still running round Newport though 25 years later

 

They should keep running no problem if you disconnect only one of the sensors. The ECM knows where the engine position is so it will revert to the other sensor to continue running. Its during startup that if it doesn't see both sensor inputs it has to let it spin over a few more times in order to calculate the correct engine position.

 

This is giving me hope on my problem. Thanks.

 

Really?! Lol!! only redeeming factor was the slant 6. I couldn't kill that thing! 3 transmissions 8 starters and 4 alternators in a year and a half. Neutral bang at every corner but that 6 cylinder stayed strong!

 

Ahaaa!!! Said the blind man!!
So if one or the other is a bit weak. On startup it may cause trouble, but after the engine is running be able to keep it running if the other is unplugged.
Good to know. Thanks.

 

My 78 Nova tach didn't work half the time but kept on cutting in and out. Those were factory tachs and weren't tied into anything else but the tach so it didn't have a thing to do with the engine running unlike the Trucks now that have Everything plumbed into Everything else as a safety precaution. The HEI distributor worked just fine and fired it up right away. I noticed the capacitor on the firewall had a bend where the wire was attached to it and got a new one. Problem solved.
Sounds like you got it narrowed down to those two sensors. One or the other is almost bound to fix the problem. Those sensors are great when they work but add more problems than they are worth later on when they get some age on them. I hope that fixes it.

 

I think you caught up.

 

Finally got to meet a few guys from #5. They were hanging out about an hour north. @MagnumaMoose and @Bear135 they’re pretty stuffy but kinda cool dudes.

 

Grub's gonna love this one. Probably firing off a text to @rank right now about Nopar quality.