Missfire

Your staying a jump ahead of me on the ideas It almost sounds like the 2/3 wires are crossed, standing at the drivers fender looking at the distributor cap, upper left 11 0clock position is #1, then clockwise 3-4-2. I,m sure you already checked but threw it anyways.
If all the cylinders have good even compression, then somewhere its just not getting spark or a valve isn't opening letting fuel in.
If possible I would try a different cap and or wire/s, double check for any vacuum leaks, pop the valve cover off and see if any of the cam lobes look worn down. As a last resort its possible the MSD box has a problem and its not firing correctly. Best of luck.

It kind of sounds like you get good spark at number 2 with a screw driver but it does not make a differance when you take the wire off and start the truck. If that is the case just change the plug. I have had plugs be bad if you drop them even in the box they will break loose and not fire or cause a missfire. And I would allways stay with the NGK I have had nothing but problems with autolites.

I have tried swapping around the plugs.

However today, not that I actually have some light, I pulled the cap off again. All the contacts look to be burnt pretty badly, on the cap and rotor. So as soon as someone gets home I am gong to the auto parts store to get replacements. I also got a new coil for it.

Okay I now have a brand new cap and rotor, brand new plugs, brand new wires, and a brand new coil. The missfire is officially gone, but I am still having issues. I started the truck up, and it ran perfect. I kept it at about 2K RPM to warm it up a bit, then I started letting it down to idle. Once it got around 1500 RPM it started running rough, so I raised the idle from there and it still ran rough. Its rough around idle too, and is still emitting a black watery substance from the tail pipe. I pulled the air cleaner off, and there is a similar substance in the carb above the wing on the secondary. WTF is going on? If I let the truck sit for about 30 minutes it will do this same thing, but if I start it immediately after it runs rough right off the bat.

I also got the fuel dryer additive and put it in the tank.

I pulled the valve cover as well, none of the lobes are flat.

better get rid of the truck.. sell it to me.. get yourself a new truck.. lol
dude i know how u feel when your fuckin vehicle isnt working right... my car was the same way, so i said f-it and replaced the whole damn motor.. lol
motor works great now, but my power windows just broke this weekend..
fing bs!
good luck with it though

I'm planning on putting a 22RE in it, but NOT RIGHT NOW! Lol. I don't have the time to do the swap right now. And my truck being down is killing my income.

I've got the same problem,daily driver. The glass in my water trap blew out on my wayto work this mornin. Not to mention all the other probs I've had the last 2 years!!!

Seth, your not making this easy I hope you know At least your making headway, sounds like you still might have an issue with carburation, running overly rich, thats the black residue coming out the tailpipe along with water, natural from the combustion process, and some residual fuel from the rich condition.
The choke flap is opened all the way? float level in the carb OK, fuel level when running about center in the sight glass on the carb front? no vacuum leaks on any hoses or carb base gaskets, brake booster, ect.
The AAP on the carb, have seen those with a leak or pinhole and cause rich condition, its the triangle shaped 3 screw cover on the side of the carb with the curved vacuum hose pipe sticking out of it, try pulling the vacuum hose and plugging the hose and see what it does, also the fuel cut solenoid, thats the round deal that screws in towards the top of the carb that has the wire plug going to it, have seen those before where they would act up and not allow it to run right, disconnect it and see what happens or verify it has power going to it, should be able to hear it click with engine off.
Don't know what your running for air cleaner, if stock make sure the cold air flapper isn't stuck shut so its only sucking hot air from the manifold if so equipped.
22RE!! I got one of those projects in the works into an old 77 truck, just need to get ambitious and finish it some day.

I'm sorry. Its not easy on me either! But I'm sure glad you're here.



I can't get out of the truck while running to check some of those things, so I am unsure. It won't idle on its own at this point. When I checked the choke flap was about half way open. Looking through the sight glass on the front of the carb I can see the float and it looks level. No idea on the level of the fuel while running. And there is no one here capable of reading that, or keeping a carbed vehicle with issues running...

The AAP, I replaced a few days ago with a new one, along with the spring. I will try plugging that hose tomorrow morning though.

The fuel cut off solenoid is brand new, as of I believe 6 months ago. I will unplug it and see what happens. I will also double check to see if ti has power, as I have not done that since this issue arose. Do you know if it is supposed to have constant power, or only Ignition ON power? Or something else?

As far as the intake, it is still stock, but that heat flapper is not currently on it. I actually removed it a while back to install a wire loom, and didn't notice a difference on cold starts.

I also picked up a new fuel filter on the way home, as well as some fuel and oil treatments, on top of the fuel dryer. Just in case, because I am desperate. Also filled up the gas can, to see if it will run off of it and maybe turn up some fuel line issues....

. Do you know if it is supposed to have constant power, or only Ignition ON power? Or something else?

I,m guessing it would be power when the keys on, been a while since I checked one but it makes sense thats when it would power up or the battery would go flat if it sat for days unstarted.
Bummer you don't have an extra set of hands to help you out, what about cranking the idle speed screw up some so it would stay running so you could get from cab to underhood before it dies.
Again, best of luck, I'll keep thinking too.