So, I have it all back together from the head gaskets. It cranks very weakly, I cleaned the batter terminals, confirmed the charge, 700 CC Amps and 97% charged. The ground behind the driver side firewall is tight, anywhere else I should check? I figured something would break when I put it back together. I had the negative terminal disconnected the entire time I was working on the head gaskets. I think the connections to the alternator are good.
If the fuses or relay were bad, i would not even get any cranking, correct?

If I bench test the starter, will that tell me anything useful? I can imagine the power needed to activate the starter is much lower when it is out of the vehicle. If it does not spin at all, that is one issue, but in my case it worked great before the head gaskets, now its sluggish as though it is weak.

The motor turns pretty easily, with the belt on.

Anything else I should check?

 

There is another ground that connects the battery negative terminal to bracket where the idler pulley and alternator connect to. If I remember, the ground on drivers side firewall might be able to connect to two posts. Maybe you connected it to the one that was not used and corroded. If it took you awhile to do the head gaskets, its possible the battery was on its way out and lost charge from not being used for awhile. I'm not sure how accurate the measuring device that said 97% is.

 

Slow starter is almost always starter or battery. It is worth checking the grounds, first. But a simple check is to hook up another vehicle for a jump start and start your truck. if it cranks over fast and strong battery, if it is still sluggish suspect the starter.

 

Agreed, how many miles on the starter?

 

Were there any replacements to crank or rod bearings? Piston rings?

 

No piston or ring replacement. I took the battery to Autozone where they load tested it, I did have it on a charger for a day. When I jumped it, I got the exact same result.
Thanks to evil_goat, I went back and found the grounding cable that mounts by the idle pulley, it got stashed away and not reconnected. Started right up.

It is burning all sorts of chemicals and smoking, as to be expected, my plan is to change the oil shortly. The oil has very few miles on it, and looks clean, the only reason is bc of all the cleaning and junk from being open.

It still does not sound as smooth as it did, any did before, I only ran it a couple of seconds. Is there a post-head gasket start up procedure?

Thanks

 

@redrover75 Yea that ground by the idler is primary ground so that explains the starting issue. You need to let idle up to temp then take it for a good run, 30 minutes or so and it should settle down.

There is no procedure for post head gaskets on these, other than listen for any ticking, just to make sure oil is getting to the rockers. And change the oil and filter after about 500 miles

 

If the smoke is coming from the engine bay it’s likely just stuff spilled on the exhaust manifolds. Even a small amount of oil or wd-40 spilled on it will start smoking. Smoke coming from the tailpipe could mean that coolant is still getting into the cylinders, but if it stops and doesn’t come back you are probably fine. First few seconds will probably run rough since the fuel has not completely flown through the rail yet.