Start Issues - Starts and shuts off

[THRobinson]

Truck is on it's last legs but still some life left. 399,870km... almost 400,000km.

Right now, having a start/shutoff issue. Crank it, starts, runs for 1-2sec then coughs and shuts off. Some days it starts fine, some days you have to try 3-5x. Rare but also happened a few times, it starts to cough and almost shuts off when idle, like in line at take-out for coffee.

Other issue is that when at a stop, sometimes it gives itself a little rev and wants to lunge forward a bit, luckily foot on the break or else it would lunge forward.

Seems sluggish lately as well, though throttle body should be fine, replaced it 2yrs ago. With the issues this truck has had though, in 2yrs I drove maybe 2,000km at most. It's (at this time) mostly groceries and lumber. Since Covid first lockdowns, I rarely drove it. Had weird issues that I finally found was just false readings due to no grounding. Bought a grounding kit and now grounded fine, and I checked and none of the grounds are burnt/melted.

Side note, in case it's related, the engine is definitely burning oil at this time, and manifold on passenger side is shot and loud.

Would something like sparkplugs/coil packs fix this? No idea how well the previous owner looked after it, but guess plugs are probably original. Would that cause these issues? Start issues, rpm boosts when idle, sluggish getting up to speed, burning oil?

 

[G/T jonny]

That’s an awfully long time for a set of spark plugs. I’d start there. No misfire codes? Worn & fouled plugs will definitely cause start problems & idle fluctuations.

 

[THRobinson]

Ya, I bought this a while back around 350,000km, because was cheap and nice shape but after dealing with it a while I can see where some stuff was neglected or done incorrectly. Then hit with throttle body error codes and red lightning bolts... tried this that and the other and ended up getting a message in a forum (maybe this one) where someone said they had/did the exact same things and was the grounding.

But by the time I figured that out, looks like the passenger manifold gasket rotted. Be $300-700 to replace depending if the manifold survives and well, at 400,000km, and with all the other issues, I've just been driving a loud truck.

I do remember when I got the truck the guy said he re-gapped the plugs, not replaced, so they're probably very old.

Would you replace the plugs? or both the plugs and the coil packs at the same time?

I'm a full-time student again, so gotta do things on the cheap vs just throwing money at it. Then again, those rear plugs/packs by the firewall look an absolute pain to get it.

 

[1979PowerWagon360]

Seems like fuel issue or possibly vacuum leak. Fuel pump could be dying or a vacuum leak around that manifold.

 

[Daw14]

Coils work or they don’t for the most part , start with some fresh plugs and see what that does . Get a set of remflex header gaskets and replace the bad with these to remedy that leak .

 

[THRobinson]

Seems like fuel issue or possibly vacuum leak. Fuel pump could be dying or a vacuum leak around that manifold.

Would the gasket being shot around the manifold be the vac leak?

Unfortunately, manifold is a job beyond my skillset since I suspect the bolts are essentially welded in. I'm more a brakes/oil change level kinda guy unless some very detailed YouTube vids exist requiring basic tools and no torches.