First of all, Jim, thanks for the very detailed reply. I do appreciate it.
Perhaps I should have mentioned I have an Auto Tech background.
Though it seems I have lost much of the knowledge as its a field I never
pursued.
This will soon become apparent....
I have it figured out now. I know I stated in the original ppost spark was
ok. Hah!
It was, but only as far as the wires. Never bothered to check the plugs.
Put six brand-spankin-new plugs in and the damn thing didnt turn halfways
around and it was running.
Loudly, but running nonetheless. Apparently one of the backfires blew the
muffler apart.......
To be lenient on myself, there were other issues with the old girl that
led
me astray.
The negative battery cable (probably original) had corroded inside the
terminal. This led me to believe
I had starter troubles. After removing and rebuilding two times (parts
come
from the local dump and for the record the
armature and motor housing from Tempo/Topaz work wonderfully, just use
your
old planetaries and head piece) I started to think it was not the starter.
Cut the cable off and removed all the green crap and it turned like a
champ.
Once I got it turning over again, still suspecting fuel, I gave it a
couple
shots of ether while cranking. It didnt mak an attempt at starting. Hmm,
says I, if I had good spark
this thing should have caught and ran for a second. Took out the number
one
plug, grounded it against the alternator bracket and cranked it. Tiny
spark,
but it was way
down in the center electrode deep in the plug. Tried another. Completely
dead. Checked the other on the same side. Dead. No need to check the
other
side of the engine.
You can tell I'm no genius lol but even I know a V6 wont run on 3
cylinders.
So I guess my methods dont work very well, but all's well that ends well.
Anyhow, its easy to make one bad assumption and be led way off track. I
assumed spark was ok, which led me to the fuel delivery system. Which I
guess wasn't
a REALLY dumb mistake since it all started after replacing fuel filter.
I guess I forgot the KISS method. And my thumb is not an accurate fuel
pressure guage, a screwdriver in a plug wire cant tell you if your plugs
are
good and a starter wont
turn well with no path to ground. If you leave a dog on a bone long enough
though, he'll get the marrow.
Anyway thanks Jim. Your insight was well thought out, straight to the
point
and informative.
Justin
PS this is just an old clunker that only gets used around the yard.
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