Electrical/Spark Issue

[OleBrownie]

drove to my buddies house the other day, turn my truck off, when I went to leave it wouldn’t turn back on. Battery is fully charged and alternator was charged. Tried jumping it, still to no avail. Took it to shop, they said it was a corroded distributor cap so they replaced it, come to find out that’s not the issue. Now they wanna charge me $300 and told me they “aren’t really sure what’s wrong.” Anyone familiar with this sort of issue? Thanks.

[vjsimone]

I guess you won't be going back there,,,,
Pay them for the new cap and 1 hour of labor, but not for their incomplete diagnostics attempt.

Following....

[mat in tn]

certainly, that shop does not need to be diagnosing without their plug and play black magic. fuel, fire, air and compression! these are what an engine needs to run. You turned it off and it gave no trouble signs before?
first off let's get a little more info. year, make, model, engine, trans etc.

[OleBrownie]

1983 F150, crate engine 302 (company is five star engines), c6 trans. Was having issues with my radio so I unplugged it. Had starting issues prior (months ago) but it was my starter and I got it replaced. Pulled my driver side header out a week ago to repair a hole and pulled the spark plug coils out but I checked them before I put it back in and marked them so I didn’t miss place them. Told the shop all about that but it didn’t seem to help them.

[OleBrownie]

I’m gonna see what they say when I get a follow up call but if they keep putting it off i’m just gonna do that. This week I have all my final exams so I took it to the shop since I have no time to work on it, the worst week this could have happened lol.

[OleBrownie]

They said since everything is aftermarket they are having a hard time finding parts but I don’t see the issue with that since they don’t even know what’s wrong??

[vjsimone]

Sounds like they want to swap out parts until it's fixed. That will get expensive.

[OleBrownie]

Exactly, but they said they’d call me before doing anything else so we’ll see what they have to say.

[mat in tn]

this sounds like a very strait forward design. however, you said aftermarket parts. not a good sound to me. that means many hands have been in there. (Forty years old. that's normal). please don't be offended but this all sounds new to you also.  buying an old vehicle can be a learning experience and buying one that has been re-engineered even more so.  prove fuel and spark first. prove fuel by opening the carb and looking in as you work the throttle, and you should see two streams of gas squirt as you work the throttle. if you do not then out of gas or no fuel pump or clogged fuel filter etc..
if you see two squirts then test for spark.

[FuzzFace2]

OleBrownie wrote

This week I have all my final exams so I have no time to work on it, the worst week this could have happened lol.

You should know for the rest of your life everything happens at the worst time

I am guessing the oldest person at that garage is my be 30 years old no wonder why they cant find what is wrong with it.
Every motor needs gas / spark / compression to run its not that hard to figure out what could be wrong for it not to start.

Matt is on it what to check if they cant get anywhere with it.
Good luck
Dave ----

[Dorsai]

OleBrownie wrote

drove to my buddies house the other day, turn my truck off, when I went to leave it wouldn’t turn back on. Battery is fully charged and alternator was charged. Tried jumping it, still to no avail. Took it to shop, they said it was a corroded distributor cap so they replaced it, come to find out that’s not the issue. Now they wanna charge me $300 and told me they “aren’t really sure what’s wrong.” Anyone familiar with this sort of issue? Thanks.

Your problem doesn't sound terribly different from mine, which I describe here, right down to having a previous start problem that I *thought* I had solved.  I'm starting to suspect the ignition switch in my case, but I'm also having some symptoms that you don't seem to be having, or at least don't mention.

I agree with others that your shop seems to be inhabited by clowns.  Work with the folks here and use the resources on this site, and I bet you can solve this for a fraction of what Bozo and his pals will charge you.