Twuck goes VWOOOM!!!

As you can see by the previous post, She is a runner. LOUD, but I knew when I saw her cats were cut off, she was gonna be.

Still a no crank issue. More on that in a minute.

Went for the battery first thing this am. Grabbed up a can of Starting fluid as well, because, 12 years in a field,,,,

Battery installed, all connections tight, twist the key, and see lights, and gauges doing wonky things, I can hear the fuel pump whined up,,,

no crank,,,,

Back up and punt,,,

Check at starter, work back. Voltage on the selonoid battery terminal, ground showing on the signal terminal. OK,,, just for giggles, jumper across with a screw driver, crank crank crank, lots of sparks of course, but the engine is turning over. NOW, I need an assistant: No one available,,, keep playing around till one appears. Go ahead and turn key to run, and just to make sure, pull Buffalo up (Running) and set up some jumpers for added kick. Easy view of the cylinders on the Evens side so I pull out my HEI test plug and set it up on #2. Turn the key to run, and then jumper those terminals on the starter. Slow to kick, but eventually started seeing nice hot sparks in the tester. Time for the Ether,,, Two squirts into the intake (PCV tube, such a great location for that purpose.) and bump her over. COuGH, sPUtteR,,, VWOOOOMMM!

and she keeps on runnin!!!! Far more than a couple squirts of ether in the pipes account for,,, There must be fuel in that tank even though it shows empty, and probably not very good fuel, but then a 350 could probably run on old paint thinner too. She keeps running as I race around getting something to toss in the radiator to keep things cool. Took less than a gallon to get me up to top, so there was stuff in her that I hadn’t seen. (and honestly, never really checked other than a glance down in the rad)

Take the jumpers off and shut down Buff; let Twuck run on her own power since she seems so damned willing right now. Check voltages from alt and across points to make sure things are looking right. Was low at 13.8 but in five mintues was up to 14.5, just like every Chevy I have owned in the past.

At this point Twuck is purring like a big ol D9 Catapillar earth mover,,, just humming LOUDLY along content in herself and her power. Blip the throttle acouple of times and LOUD was only the starting point,,, SHes got some serious power behind that purr.

Still no crank. Still no signal to starter. No click at the starter relay, but I can trip it from there, so its not the signal wire. If you have never used a PowerProbeIII, you are missing out. A Serious Electric Diag tool,,,, Gotta be in that ignition switch that I was just banging around on as of yesterday,,, Pull it ALL back apart and see what I can see.

ONLY, there are two screws holding that switch in place. A type I have nothing that fits. E5 inverted torx,,, smallest E’x’ I have is E6 and its a socket and won’t fit down that hole,,,,

ZON!!!!!

They’ll be here on friday, and yes, I paid extra in shipping. I have another ignition switch of that exact make in the Donor Vehicle so a parts swap should isolate or eliminate the issue. AND, It may be that damned security feature I mentioned the other day,,,, Won’t be the first time that little bug-a-boo has bitten Ol’ Dio. I’m researching a ‘bypass’ or ‘ eliminate’ option for that. (technically, I could bypass it by installing a ‘Start” switch/button in the Dash: I proved that the run feature did its thing. Thats last resort, though not off the table. )

SO, I am currently stuck on this page, not quite able to move forward, brainium tired from all the intuitive ‘jumps to conclusion’ features of Diagnostics, but SATISFIED with myself for the days efforts. Oh, and the powersteering works like a champ. Used the moments she was running to straighten the front tires out. Blower motor for the heater works too, and she ran long enough to know that the heater core does put out heat. Did NOT check the AC at this time, though I shoulda,,, Oh well, she ain’t goin’ no where fast

YET! LOL

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PS: I do know “the King is a F.I.N.K.’ acronym. AND there is a ‘Nuetral Safety” on this truck,,, Thats my next check,,, One that will need to wait for daylight hours again. I did ‘engage’ the clutch peddle but didn’t seem to change anything. Doesn’t mean the switch is any good though.