Engine starts then dies 2-3 sec later

Well new to this forum. Having starting issues on my 93 b2600 4x4. Pulled my head did a valve job with seals. Made sure not to skip any teeth on timing put back together no go. Timing lines up checked my spark I have compression checked when cold do to not being able to warm her up. At this point I'm all ears. Any things better then nothing.

might need to rotate crank as it turns twice for every turn the cam makes, although piston 1 and 4 are up, may be trying to spark # 4 while # 1 is supposed to be sparking, something like that happened to me when I pulled my head and replaced it. did u just lay the distributor to the side or did u un hook it from the coil and leave it attached to the head?

But yes I did remove it from head and disconnected all plug wires and coil wire to distributer.

just incase, the piston firing order is 1342, with piston # 1 being the one closest to the radiator. and # 4 being the one closest to the firewall. on the dizzy, the wire for piston # 1 should be on the left of the cap, the wire for # 3 should be the top wire, the wire for # 4 should be on the right, and the wire for # 2 would be at the bottom (with the acception of a slight angle as the dizzy may be tilted one way or the other.) when u set your motor to tdc, piston # 1 should be all the way up, and the rotor button on the distributor under the cap should point to 9 oclock (the front of the truck) hopefully u just have a timing error or something. that was my issue after I did my head.

I'm confused. Title is "Engine starts then dies 2-3 sec later". If that's the true issue here, I'd suspect the electrical part of the ignition switch, they go out after 20 years on these trucks. The "run" circuit while in the "start" position is different than the "run" circuit once you let go of the key.

That happened on mine in the mid 1990s.

yeah, its not exactly clear if u had issues b4 the valve job or not, but if u did then cussers probly right. if you didn't have any issues b4 hand, then just keep at it, youl find the problem. most likely an error while putting it back together, happens to me all the time.

Every thing lines up on timing side. Plugs are in proper firing order.

How can I test my ignition switch?
The engine ran before the removal of the head.

Hey mate as i just discovered myself, Did you have any problems before your valves?

There are 2 sensor plugs on the front of the intake manifold, here in australia anyways they are the same plug one is coolant temp sensor and the other is air temp sensor. I had them back to front and it would so similar to what yours is doing.

Try that if there the same swap them.

did u put the ground wire back on from the back of the head to the firewall? I forgot to once. anyway, there are a couple ways u can test it if u don't have a volt meter or whatever. u can either have a friend pull his car next to your passenger side, hook your pos. cable to the starter wire and neg. cable to the chasis. pull one of your plugs, have your friend hook up his pos. wire, turn your key to run position, have him ground his neg. cable, (as soon as he touches that cable to metal or grounds it the motor will start turning.) if your getting spark in the run position, your switch is probly ok, (this tests it without turning the key to start position, just keeps it in run position) now if u do this, keep in mind, some do frown on this method FOR A REASON but if your careful and do it right, you should be ok. I guess u could just jump a wire from the pos. side of battery to your coil and see if it starts that way, either way, ive done this once, it was scary, be careful if u do try.

I did not have really any problems. Just took little while to start being in Alaska and cold out. I will definitely look for those two plugs and check it out. Thank you.

I will also check that ground. I recall pulling a bracket off but it didn't look like a ground just a bracket for a hose. When I get off Work ill try looking for that ground.

I appreciate it guys thank you.