‘99 K2500 died and won’t restart

[b454rat]

The distributor will still turn if it's bad, but now it's out of time....

 

[jason5313]

Any news yet mine is doing The same thing. I've got new fuel pump at 63 psi fuel. And every cylinder compression is 170 or better except number seven is at 150. I have brand new distributor cap and the rotor bug plug wires and spark plugs. It does crank fast and then acts like it gets caught on something every now and again. When I pulled the plugs they are black and wet with fuel but I'm able to hold it half an inch away from the blog and crank it and it will arc across and zap **** out of me lmao.
Also will not start with starting fluid just backfires.

 

[Schurkey]

When I pulled the plugs they are black and wet with fuel but I'm able to hold it half an inch away from the blog and crank it and it will arc across and zap **** out of me lmao.
Also will not start with starting fluid just backfires.

WHAT VEHICLE? WHAT ENGINE?

The point is not to verify the arc from the plug shell to the engine. The point is to verify that the spark jumps the gap instead of bleeding-off down the porcelain.

Clean or replace your plugs, see what happens. I generally clean plugs with an ordinary propane torch, no added oxygen (too hot.) Yellow flame = fuel/oil burning off. Orange flame = done or nearly-done. The porcelain should be virgin-white when you're done. Better still is a grit-blaster, but most folks don't have access to that equipment. Or just replace with new.

If that doesn't fix it, you'll need to do the usual diagnostics--Verify fuel pressure, assure that all the typical tune-up parts/procedures are in acceptable condition, and connect a scan tool to verify EVERY sensor and computer output, fuel trims, misfire counts, etc.

 

[Road Trip]

Any news yet mine is doing The same thing. I've got new fuel pump at 63 psi fuel. And every cylinder compression is 170 or better except number seven is at 150. I have brand new distributor cap and the rotor bug plug wires and spark plugs. It does crank fast and then acts like it gets caught on something every now and again.

Greetings jason5313,

Welcome to the GMT400 forum! From the fuel pressure you are running, I'm inferring that you have a '96+ Vortec, but
I don't know this for sure. Help us help you by telling us the year, make, model, powertrain of your GMT400 truck and
this way we can speak to specifics.

Listen, that last sentence you wrote above really caught my eye: "It does crank fast and then acts like it gets caught on something every now & again."

Check out this TSB having to do with a bad CKP sensor causing kickback during cranking:

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Sounds like this description matches your observed symptoms?

When I pulled the plugs they are black and wet with fuel but I'm able to hold it half an inch away from the blog and crank it and it will arc across and zap **** out of me lmao.
Also will not start with starting fluid just backfires.

For what it's worth *every single thing* in the EFI system is built on top of the signal supplied by the
CKP sensor. If it's malfunctioning everything tied to it (spark timing and fuel injector firing) will also
be all wronged up.

For what it's worth, I've got a '99 C2500 with the 454, and it cranks nice and steady until it fires.
(No slowing down, no 'acting like it's getting caught on something'.) From over here it looks like
you need to figure out (what sounds like) what's causing the kickback during cranking? Once you
get that sorted out, good compression + fuel delivery + strong spark at the right time should bring
you joy. (Note: On Vortec motors the ignition timing comes purely from the CKP sensor. (!)

Follow the TSB and if you have the code set that doesn't set the SES light, then I think this is it.
And given this TSB, if that CKP sensor looks to be an old soldier, I wouldn't spend too much time
on wondering if I should replace it vs finding somebody local with a pico scope to prove/disprove the
waveform.

Best of luck. And please make sure to come back and report on what you discover.

Pictures a plus if you can.

Cheers --