In desperate need of help. Truck won’t start..

northernman24 · July 5, 2020

I have a 1991 Chevy pickup 350 tbi

The problem seemed to start one day I had the distributor cap unscrewed and just sitting there and the truck running and I revved it up, someone was standing there they said the distributor cap flew up in the air. Then the truck died and it wouldn’t run right since, eventually wouldn’t start at all. I changed a laundry list of things;

plugs, wires, cap and rotor, Icm, fuel filter, completely rebuilt the throttle body including new fuel injectors, iac valve, tps, map sensor, both coolant sensors, knock sensor, ignition coil

i have fuel to the throttle body but nothing coming out of injectors. Seems to turn over fine.
my question is: could I have damaged the distributor or Ecm or something else when the distributor cap flew up in the air? Or any other ideas ?

riverbanks · July 5, 2020

Did you check for power at injectors?

Brian Lindsey · July 5, 2020

you need to start over and put down the parts cannon, it ran until distributor cap flew off , start there, why did it fly off, start checking that area, did shaft hang up , is gear worn out and hanging up, i would pull distributor and start looking at that, are you getting fire to the plugs

northernman24 · July 6, 2020

I don’t have access to any kind of diagnostic tools so it’s a tough one. We might try changing the distributor when I have the money to. I don’t see why it would lose power to injectors now they were firing before . I’m kinda thinking when the cap flew off it damaged the distributor somehow. I was repairing the heater hose that goes into the back of the block the fitting broke off inside and had the cap undone to get at it better. Then I had to move the truck I didn’t know running it with the cap undone was such a bad thing but then I revved it up to push out any crap that might have fallen down into the block and the cap flew up in the air and she died. Either way we’re gonna try and figure it out so I’ll update when I have more info. I’ve read that the fuel pump relay and oil pressure sensor could be culprits.

riverbanks · July 6, 2020

You said you have fuel at throttle body,do you have fuel pump running with key on?

northernman24 · July 6, 2020

If I turn the key on and listen I never hear the fuel pump, but if I go up and unhook the fuel line at the throttle body there is fuel there, the only time I hear the pump is after I turn the truck off

northernman24 · July 9, 2020

*Update*
i replaced many things including cap and rotor the day after having 13 teeth pulled. Apparently I was looking at the wrong diagram because every single plug wire was on the wrong place on distributor cap. So now it’s running good and no check engine light anymore! Moral of the story don’t tackle projects the day after surgery!

now the only problem left is one she’s had since I’ve had her 6 years. Can’t run with a thermostat just overheats right away. Had to take it out like I do every summer. First brand new thermostat I tested and determined it wasn’t functional. Put another new one in same thing overheats almost right away. Take it out runs nice and cool. Already changed both coolant temp sensors so it’s not that.