Starter cranks but engine won't run

OK guys hope y'all can help me out with this. I have a 1976 scout II with the 392 (was told it was a 345when i bought it)to 4 speed manual transmission 4x4 that had been my daily driver for the last five years long story short I drove it to a mechanic ended up pulling it back to my house. Just a little backstory on the scout. I bought it from a man in Dallas who said he bought it from a man in California who used it for rock climbing. The Man from California had to move to Texas so he reverted bacc to a street drivable scout. The reason why I bring up the story when I bought the truck is to demonstrate that it has changed hands several times and been modified several times so there might be other modifications to the truck that I'm just not aware of so I will be including pics to help hopefully help us out on this endeavor.


My truck worked for the last five years until I took it to the mechanic and what was changed at the mechanic where the distributor the carburetor fuel pump and gas tank. The gas tank is a no emissions the carburetor went from A 2210 Holly R7309A to a 2300 holly 1864 S. I would need to look up paper work on distributor . The truck cranks. It won't start so I hoping with a little guidance i can get it back on the road again. Here are some pics

Sorry about getting the pics late on the thread I thought I did but I guess not .still very new this. If I missed anything please let me know. I am sure I did. Any and all criticisms are welcomed I'm here to learn. Thanks

We're going to know some history starting from when you have owned it.
I assume you have been driving it.
Why did you take it to the mechanic?
If it stopped running, were you driving it or did it happen on restart?


There are a plethora of things that may have caused your problem, so you'll feel like you're on trial for a bit while we pick your memory. But trust me it is for a reason.

I have owned the truck since April 2010. That same week I brought my truck home I had a new gas lines ran and the carburetor rebuilt had to remove some auxiliary gas tanks( I Believe the exhaust was moved out to fit those auxiliary tank so now exhaust is it under the driver and passenger seats which makes it very hot) that where under the cab of the truck that we're no longer in use and some brake work but other than that she ran great it was my daily driver for the last six years. I have changed the oil when it needed to be changed I did have to change the master cylinder couple of times that's for another discussion but that's about it.

On one of the oil changes I believe they overfilled it with oil. I noticed the truck started to run a little rough so I check the dipstick is marking way over so I just decided to take the oil out myself. I measured what I took out and came out with 7 quarts. So I went and put five new Quarts of oil. So the reason I took it to the mechanic was because I was having a little harder time starting it and The truck would start smoking from what it looked like to me from the leaked oil.

So aside from the oil leaks the mechanic determined I needed a new distributor which I got remanufactured a new carburetor which I got and a new gas tank because I was afraid the old tank might be dirty and also I need to change the float. When I asked him what kind of gas tank he recommended he said the one with no emission. So fast forward three months later he couldn't get it back to turn on to stay on and it just felt like he had given up. And I gave up on him. So I ended up pulling my truck back home. So this where I am at now

Did the mechanic include the prior, removed distributor when you reclaimed the rig? We'll never know what made him arrive at the conclusion that your distributor needed to be replaced.
7 quarts really isn't an excessively high over fill. Certainly nothing that would cause the engine to run rough. Now if it was the wrong viscosity/weight of oil, that could be problematic.
Another possibility and this is just a wild ass guess as I have no way of knowing at this point, but your crank case may have been getting contaminated with a foreign liquid, such as raw fuel. That would raise the level on the dipstick for sure.
I wonder about that because you mention you began to have a harder time starting it and there was a lot of smoke. Do you recall what color the smoke was? Was it accompanied by any smells?
That carb list number corresponds with a late 50's early 60's Mercury V8 engine. Probably not the best match for your 392. By the way, your 392 is not original to the Scout. Someone swapped it in.

I did keep the old distributor I also have the old gas tank which is in pretty good shape but somewhat rusty inside the tank. The smoke that was coming from the engine bay. I believe it was just the oil that had accumulated around the motor and so once the Motor got hot the oil started to smoke. There was a gas smell but I think that was from the carb leaking gas and from what I have read that might be from fuel pressure to high for an old carb. As far as the smoke coming from the tailpipes it would come out smoking in the beginning like all trucks but would clear up with in a minute. As far as the carburetor I believe the 2210 is fixable but I have read you all recommend a certain 2300. Thank you for the help it's greatly appreciated.

I forgot to mention he did say the water pump housing was crack but he was able to fix it and also changed the two water pipes because the ends where to far gone.

Here are the pictures of the two distributors side by side. I also included pictures of them separately from different angles. On the old distributor the only markings were inside which I took a picture of as well. Thank you again and have a happy Fourth of July.

You have removed the installed distributor I see. The one with red/ orange paint on it should go back in. It is the Prestolite dizzy.
With the rotor on, Hold the gear and try to turn the rotor CW. It should turn about 10 degrees and return when released.

Next remove the rotor and see if you can see any bearing slop at the points end of the shaft. There will be a little but if it is excessive, the points will erratic and possibly not run correctly.
See if the vacuum advance diaphragm will hold vacuum and that it moved the breaker or points plate and that it returns when the vacuum released.
If that all checks out, get new points, condenser, cap and, rotor.
Install them and then you'll need to verify that you are familiar with installing a distributor. There is a process to it that must be accomplished exactly or the timing will be way off.

The IH SV is timed off of cylinder #8 and the timing marks on the damper are associated with #8 only. You'll have to remove the spark plugs and find TDC of the compression stroke for #8.
Use a helper to turn the engine (a socket on the damper bolt will do) in the normal direction by hand, while you have a finger in the plug hole for #8 until you feel pressure from the piston coming up on compression. Then continue turning the engine till the timing mark on the damper lines up with the 0 on the front cover.


That is where the engine has to be when you install the dizzy. The rotor needs to point to the cap wire post location that you want to use for plug wire #8. The blade below the gear also has to engage the slot for the oil pump. You can see it in the dizzy hole. You need to turn the slot so it lines up with a straight blade screw driver. The dizzy gasket boss will bottom on the block when it is seated correctly. It will likely take a few tries to get it in.

Starting with cylinder #8 and the cap wire location for #8. Install your plug wires in a CW direction following this order. 8, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7, 2, 1

Thank you for the pics. Keep 'em coming. Let's see the distributor cap for the original distributor. The correct Prestolite cap should have male tower ends on it. Do you also have the plastic dust cover for it? I think with the Presto dizzy, that piece is critical for proper cap fitment.

The shaft on the old distributor does have a littl play there. Thereis a gap a of about .054. I will send a pic of it. As far as the old cap I do not have it or the dust cover.

I also did turn it clock wise and it did return

The endplay you are measuring is a spec to hold but the radial play it what I was eluding to. It is a side to side play.

Here is a link to the Presto cap from the webstore.

http://www.ihpartsamerica.com/store/SL493062C1.html

Ok got it. The side to side play is very very slight. I tried to ad pice of top of dizzy but it replaced other pic

I don't see the Presto distributor dust cap as being available on the webstore, but perhaps a phone call placed to IHPA after the holiday during business hours would be helpful. Without that plastic dust cover in place, the distributor cap will not fit snugly, which will lead to performance issues. This could be why the mechanic you took it to felt his easiest course would be to replace the distributor rather than go through the rig-a-ma-roll of trying to come up with the correct cap and dust cover pieces. This next takes us to your spark plug wires. With the correct Presto male terminal cap in place, your plug wire boots and terminals must be of the correct design to properly connect to those exposed male cap ends. Better shoot us a pic of your plug wires, specifically the boot end and inside the boot that would connect to the distributor cap.

Here are the pics of the spark plug and plug wires. On The distributor what is the best way to test compression also do you also have the other parts you recommended replacing in your web store.

Those look like brand new wires, alright. Problem is, they look like they're meant to fit a female distributor cap, probably the one that goes with the replacement distributor. They won't work with a correct Presto cap. Robert and I are forum moderators, but we are not employed by IHPA. We have no say in what products either are or are not available for purchase from IHPA. I can tell you that the cap, rotor, points and condenser are available from IHPA. As I mentioned earlier, but will repeat myself to drive the point home...I DID NOT see the dust shield available through the webstore. That does not necessarily mean that IHPA does not have one available or could not order one for you. All it necessarily means right now is that part is not listed on the webstore. Again, like I said before, you would need to call IHPA during normal business hours no sooner than tomorrow and ask them about price and availability of that item.

Checking cylinder compression does not involve the distributor in any way. In fact, this could be done without the distributor installed. I'd hold off doing that until the engine is running again, though.

I am sorry I was not clear. I meant check vacuum on vacuum advance on distributor

You can check the vacuum advance canister itself by applying suction to the fitting, either by mouth and then quickly covering the fitting hole with your finger, or with a Mighty-Vac type device. The advance arm should be drawn inwards under vacuum influence and it should hold position and not relax until the suction is released. If the arm is either not drawn in by the suction, or gets drawn in, but then begins to slowly relax even with the hole covered, that indicates a perforation in the diaphragm inside the canister and would need to be replaced.