1985 Sierra won't start

[Dave S]

I bought a 1985 Sierra for my son about 3 months ago because he wanted a old truck and it ran good but backfired well it lasted about 2 months when he busted bottom radiator hose and burnt up the transmission meanwhile I had bought distributor cap plugs and wires and ignition control module I changed them out and now it cranks but will not start I know it's getting gas I need help can this be a fusible link or something else?

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

When you say backfired, do you mean it'd backfire through the tailpipe, up through the carb, or did it pop as you gave it gas? Did it ever die when it warmed up? Did you remove the distributor at any time? You need to check for spark first. You can do this optically with a timing light or physically by using a spark plug tester. If no spark, I'd check to make sure you're getting 12V or close from the BAT wire that plugs into the distributor. I'd check the connections at the coil, and I'd double, even triple, check the spark plug wiring very carefully and make sure it's as tight as possible and assigned to each spark plug correctly. I asked about removal of the distributor to remove the possibility of an inverted 180* installation. If no success in backtracking the ignition system, I'd take the ignition control module out and have it tested. These days I wouldn't be surprised if it was defective out of the box. The backfiring sounds like an ignition problem to me. Either timing or advance curve if it was popping. If the ignition stuff is fruitless, we can move to fuel, but I'd check all the ignition system first.