hey guys, I am having a problem, my truck will not start (1990). I finally got lights for my autopac claim but when I went out to fire her up, nothing. Its been about a month since I started it up last. I know, I know, not good. its been so friggin cold up here and I haven't had lights since I was rear ended so no need to be driving . She's was running perfectly fine before. fluids and all that are good. whenever it would be cold before and it wouldn't start, i would just use my car to jump it. now i have a little cube and the battery in it, isn't anywhere near as good as in my previous car. Turns over great, until my battery can't keep up and it sounds like its slowing down, so then i wait a min and keep trying. this evening when i was trying, after about 20 mins, the truck started clicking and seemed like everything died, even though the car was still jumping it. Im assuming it came loose or whatever since it went back to normal after adjusting the cables. do i just keep trying this and pumping the gas? should i get a blow dryer or heater under there somewhere to help it out? I'm not sure what other info is needed so ill end it here before i ramble on too much.....
If it was starting and running fine then a month later it doesnt run, first thing I would check, 1)Dist. cap. pop it off and clean it. Make sure you have spark, pull a plug and ground it out and turn over engine and look for spark. Cold ,wet conditions make condensation build up under cap sometimes. 2) fuel, fuel in tank?, if you can hit it with starting fluid and it fires right off you have a fuel delivery problem somewhere. 3) timing belt broke/jumped(not likely but you never know, its happened before). My guess its gonna be something easy & simple. Daihatsu's are the most reliable trks. made IMHO.
i went out to try yesterday and i got some clicking noises and sometimes it wouldn't do anything, no power no nothing, but if i moved the red (negative?) wire if would work. after some investigation, i noticed a wire was off. I'm assuming from the starter. If it deals with the battery wire, I'm hoping i just have to replace it. i took some pictures. its on the driver side of the truck too. View attachment 13096 View attachment 13097 View attachment 13098
I couldn't get your attachments to work, but it sounds like a battery/cable/voltage issue. If your loose/broken wire is on the drivers side of the truck, it sounds like its at the starter. I would replace all of the terminals on the wires and make sure the copper conductor of the wire is clean and free from any corrosion. Same with the places that it terminates to. If any of the terminations feel loose, they won't be able to draw adequate current for starting. The "clicking" sound your hearing is the starter solenoid not being able to fully engage due to either low voltage or the inability for the circuit to allow for adequate current draw. Unless of course the starter/solenoid itself is getting weak... but you said it would crank if you moved the wires, so I doubt the starter or solenoid are going bad...
I would remove your battery and bring it inside over night. If it's been cold and you haven't started it for a while it may have frozen. Schux I would even take it in to a parts store and ask them to load test it after it has been inside over night. You wouldn't believe how many batteries I replace for people up here in alaska. Once that's taken care of. Add a few gallons of fresh fuel to the tank. Just because. And get a lamp or work light and put under the engine for at least an hour. Maybe more depending on the temp out side. Once you can feel the heat when you reach over the top of the engine......turn your key on and listen for your fuel pump. I have had fuel filters freeze cause a little water got in them. Might check that too. When it's 10 deg here or less I get in. Push my gas pedal to the floor 2 times. Then turn the key on and wait for the pump to shut off. Push gas pedal one more time to floor. Push clutch and turn the key. If it doesn't start I repeat the process. Usually fires on second try down to about neg 10. Once colder than that I plug in the heater in the bottom radiator hose for an hour and it fires first try. Good luck
If its a 1990, which is how I read the first post, it has a mechanical fuel pump not an electric pump. You won't hear the pump running by just turning the key on. The motor has to be turning over to get the pump to start pumping.
finally got out today to take a better look at the truck. I figured out where the wire came off of the starter. Can i do a quick solder for a short term fix to get it started or will that be good enough to hold it?
