Hi guys, I have a 1987 v6 that my father gave me. Told me the ECU has gotten wet and that all I had to do was replace it. Things are never that easy though....the truck had been sitting up the 6 months prior to him giving me the truck. My husband and I replaced the ECU, air filter, main hoses, and made sure the gas tank is clean and the gas coming out is clean. Tried to crank the truck..... It turned over but wouldn't start. We can hear the fuel pump priming prior to cranking so we don't think there is an issue there. We have managed to get the truck to start a couple of times when he pours gas directly into the throttle body. It would start and run just for a few seconds before back firing through the carb and dying. We tried to pull it offand it started that way as well but still didn't run but just fora moment. When it did run there were giant clouds of white smoke, so much that fromadistance I thought the truck was on fire. We went in and changed the spark plugs and wires, the distributor cap , and the rotor. The dist. cap did have a couple of hairline cracks. We also replaced the throttle body position sensor at this time. Still nothing. My husband went back to double check the oil and it smelled like straight gas. Changed oil and oil filter this morning. Now every time we try to crank it still nothing but he can hear the gas damn near getting dumped into the oil!! He also said that when he replaced the distributor cap he noticed that the distributor was very loose so maybe that's part of the problem.

Can someone please advise me as to what the problem may be?? The truck ran perfectly fine prior to the ECU getting wet and ran fine the few times we did get it going. No horrible sounds or anything. .. Please help point us in the right direction.....

Sounds as if this would be a fuel related issue. I would wonder if perhaps it's an issue with the carb. Before you make that assumption I would confirm there is a normal spark by pulling a plug wire off and holding it near a grounded, metal park of the engine
/chassis and turn the engine over to see.

I am not great with carbs but perhaps it is gummed up from old gas sitting in it. How long has it been since this truck last ran?

It's been roughly 8-10months since the truck ran properly. We're thinking it could be an injector. When we turn the truck off after trying to crank it we can hear something still pumping or leaking fuel through to the intake. Ran the diagnostics on the computer and got a code 13 which is the cylinder head/water temperature sensor circuit and also got a code 43, which is the throttle sensor circuit.

In you first post you mentioned a carburetor, and in your second you mention a fuel injector. Is it carburated or fuel injected? I can't see the code 13 really preventing it from running but a faulty throttle position sensor could. I'd disconnect the plug to the throttle position sensor and clean the contacts. Ideally clean it with electrical contact cleaner & scrape the contacts then use a dab of di-electric grease. What year and model of truck is this?