[artie in miami]

I let my 1995 T100 (6 cylinder) sit for two weeks here in Miami...I went to start it...battery was a little discharged and starter sounded slow. While cranking, I heard a clunk...now it cranks and cranks (charged up the battery) but will not start.

I gave it a shot of ether to see if the problem was fuel...still won't start. I noticed that the fan turns when I crank it...but the engine sounds funny...could it be the timing belt. I had to come to work and did not have time to really go through it. I have always been a Chevy Suburban person and looking under the hood of the toyota reminds me of my outboard engine on the boat. How can I check the spark at the plugs without getting zapped ?? Any other ideas about what it could be ?? Thanks in advance.

artie in miami

 

[BamZipPow]

Could be a few things... How loud was this "clunk"?

 

[artie in miami]

the noise

The more that I think about the noise...it sounded like gears, and I bet it was the starter disengaging. I am wondering if the battery is too low to power the ignitors...when it cranks for 5 seconds...the charge indicator on the battery jumps up to 6 amps, and takes awhile to go back down (10 min or so). When I first tried it today (after charging overnight) the engine popped like it was going to run...when I tried to start it again...the started groaned (battery discharged). A healthy battery should be able to crank for several minutes before starting to groan from a run down battery.

I may take the battery out of my cheby suburban and try that in the T100...that will answer that issue ( I hope).

I took the cover off the timing belt...it seems fine. If I want to check the spark at the plug...do I just take the plug out of the engine and ground it...then try to start it ?? The manual says that I need some type of "calibrated ignition tester" for "no distributor" vehicles. In my chevy...I just ground the plug (still connected to the plug wire) and watch for the spark. The manual said "sparks will be visible between the electrode tip and the tester body" What the heck is that about ??

thanks

artie