I have an 84 f150 with 292,000 miles on it. It has been running fine until 2 days ago. I backed my truck up to let someone in my driveway and 10 minutes later I went to move it back and it will not start. I was low on gas and the gauge doesn’t work, so I just assumed I ran out. I put a few gallons in the next day and it just turns and turns. Not even a little hiccup. I opened the hood and the air intake compartment was sitting loose. I put it back on and hooked everything up and still nothing. Any suggestions as to what may have happened would be appreciated!
Check for spark while cranking the engine over. If there’s no spark, suspect the ignition module.
Tester
You could see if it will fire up using some starter fluid.
You want to be sure that both little wires are attached to the ignition coil: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?partName=Ignition+Coil&pageId=0900c1528005517a&partId=0900c1528005517a
If it’s a V8, has the timing chain ever been replaced?
I can tell you two observations I have from my years of driving old pickups with non-functioning gas gauges. One, I found that when I ran out of gas, they would never just start back up. I think the starter doesn’t turn the engine over fast enough to get the fuel pump to suck gas all the way from the tank to the carb. I would always need to prime it with starter fluid or by pouring gas in the carb and then it would usually run fine, unless…
Observation two is that about every other time I ran out of gas, I’d need to replace the fuel pump. The bottom of your gas tank is almost certainly covered in rusty dirty crud and when you run out of gas it gets sucked into the pump and clogs it.