No start issue after valve job 2005 silverado 4.3

[Peachesandherb]

I picked up a 2005 silverado v6 that supposedly needed a valve job. I took the heads off and had them redone. I got the engine reassembled and hooked back up last night but it won't start. Checked my spark on cyl 1 and it's good, fuel pressure is at 60psi. I checked some fuses under the dash and in the engine compartment, all looked good. Pretty sure my distributor is on right, set the notches and white mark evenly then seated it in the block and it turned to the 6 mark cyl 1s valves were both all the way down with the timing notch set.

 

Any suggestions as to what I should check next? When I pulled my starter to replace it, it was full of water and the inside of the truck was pretty moldy smelling which makes me think it could have been a flood truck?

[ifixedit]

Wow, I would think starting fluid would result in something. I've had distributors in 180 degrees off in the past, plug wires off, and although the results are quite interesting (i.e., pop, bang, flames out the intake, etc.), you should at least get something. I have seen plugs that will spark in the open but not under compression so perhaps as suggested here earlier the spark is very weak.

 

What do the plugs look like when they come out? Are they wet? Do they smell like gas? I'd still catch some fuel at the rail and see what's in it before I jump to conclusions and confirm one thing at a time so you know you've eliminated one potential problem and can concentrate on the next.

[Jsdirt]

If it was running when it went into the drink, that would explain alot. Might've been in an accident, and not in a storm at all ....

 

Hydro-locking causes all kinds of internal damage - bent rods, twisted cranks - at that stage it would be easier to grab another engine than to fix this one, if that's indeed the case.

[ifixedit]

If there's one thing that drives me nuts about forums is people go to the trouble to ask questions, get some answers and ideas, and then don't let anyone know if they were able to resolve their problem.

[Prokopchuk_9]

Check intake/exhaust valve lash... If it's too tight. You'll get no start, maybe it was played with already.

[ifixedit]

Check intake/exhaust valve lash... If it's too tight. You'll get no start, maybe it was played with already.

Good point, valves not closing will be a contributing factor and is well worth investigating.

 

Something else I just thought of: Being it was possibly in the drink, perhaps some grounds have become bad. Look for a ground or grounds somewhere under the drivers side door on the frame. If there's a ground there that is not making a good connection I know for a fact the truck will not run. Also, since the heads were off, were there any grounds connected to the back of either head or directly behind them on the block that could be the problem?

[ifixedit]

Ugh, not good. Flood vehicles are usually totaled by the insurance companies for a reason and in my opinion should not even come up for sale unless it's for salvage or the seller can be honest and tell you what happened, that way you know what you are buying and are taking your chances. The bad thing is many slip through the cracks and into the hands of unsuspecting buyers.

 

Yeah, I'd say at a minimum your truck was in a bit too deep of a puddle for water to get in the starter. If it's got spark that is at least a good sign. Does it do anything when you crank it, cough, sputter, backfire, act like it wants to start, anything? When it comes to no start problems like this I always ask two questions: Does it have spark and is it getting fuel? It's either a fuel delivery problem or an ignition problem and you obviously need both. It seems the spark is there, so assuming fuel is reaching the cylinders it should at least do something, even if it's a bad backfire. If not I'd guess it is not getting fuel and would be looking at what controlls the injectors, the throttle body or the fuel pump first which could be a myriad of things if it went in the drink, like a fried relay or something that shorted out which could even include something under the dash. Check things out in the power box under the hood. If you can't find anything out of the norm there, is the fuel pump working? When you turn the key to run you should be able to hear it momentarily. If not try banging pretty hard on the bottom of the fuel tank to see if it suddenly runs (an old mechanics trick). Hard to say from there but if you have spark I'd be concentrating on anything invoving fuel delivery first.

 

I hope you can figure it out!

[Peachesandherb]

Im not 100% sure if it was a flood vehicle, just an assumption from what im seeing on the truck. I can hear the fuel pump and the pressure was at 60'psi when I tested the purge valve so that means its good up till that point. The truck just cranks, no signs of it firing at all, just spinning.

[ifixedit]

Anything new to report peachesandherb?

[ifixedit]

If you have pressure at the fuel rail, spark, and it's not even firing, back firing, or even sputtering and giving any evidence it wants to start, it would indicate fuel is not reaching the cylinders and I'd then venture to say the injectors are doing nothing. That or the tank is half full of water and all the injectors are delivering is water thus the no fire. Try catch some fuel (or whatever comes out) at the fuel rail in a cup and see if it has water in it, it won't be too hard to tell. If there's water present, from there I'd drain the tank as it would be hard to guess how much water is in the tank, the thing could have sat for 3 days under water and you really don't want to try and make it run even if there's a remote chance there's water in the tank anyways. If the carpet is wet or shows signs of mold or it doesn't smell so hot inside the cab, it's a good indicator it went for a swim. You could remove the sill plates and see if there's still water hiding underneath or there are signs of recent water, look under the carpet with the sill plates removed, what you see will tell you what the truck has been through. You could also have water still hiding in wiring harnesses here and there that could take months to completely dry out and leave some major damage behind when it does dry out causing problems later.

 

Everything aside, I'd still start with the fuel situation first and be sure it's getting fuel and not something else.

[Peachesandherb]

I appreciate the advice. I'll try to catch some fuel tomorrow and also look into the injector issue.

[ifixedit]

I'm still thinking if there is actually spark under compression or even lack of compression, no matter how messed up it could be inside, how far the timing is off etc., especially using ether, something should still go bang sooner or later if there's a spark. I have a friend that restored old snowmobiles at one time in the past, many of these old machines had sat a long time and often had no spark, weak spark, or someone had messed with them causing other ignition issues, so he had a really bad habit of checking them for spark by giving them a shot of ether to see if they would fire. He ran into one with a very questionable Wankle (remember those?) engine in it, gave it a shot of ether and proceeded to rope it over. The thing about lifted off the floor and caused him to go deaf when it popped! He didn't do that again!

 

If you can verify the grounds I mention are good in order to have a strong spark so the truck would actually run assuming it's also getting fuel and not water, I'd continue to concentrate on those two areas first. Spark and fuel, it has to have both in order to do anything be it good or bad. From there if you get any kind of results showing there is at least some kind of ignition and it at least fires in some fashion or another but doesn't want to run or run right, you can then start narrowing things down and looking at timing, the distributor, bent rods, open valves and so on.

[Doug_Scott]

Did you check compression? If there is no compression for whatever reason, even starting fluid may not ignite.

[Jsdirt]

+1 ... Engines with real low compression won't even fart on ether.

[ifixedit]

+1 ... Engines with real low compression won't even fart on ether.

Ahh.... I don't know about that! Even after the low octane "Taco Special," with poor ignition I farted at least a few times and didn't need any ether! I ended up with some excessive methane though!

[Prokopchuk_9]

Did you check compression? If there is no compression for whatever reason, even starting fluid may not ignite.

That's why I said check valve lash, intakes are too tight you won't gain enough compression to start...