so my 86 sc 2.8 cranks turns over a couple of times under its own power and then dies. and i don't know whats causing it.

 

could be sooo many things ? need background - daily driver ? sitting around ? need to do basic checks - spark , timing, fuel pressure
a bit of research then come back to us :-)

 

it was sitting, its got good spark (just replaced the coil and fuel filter) and i dont have the tools nessicary to check the timing. i think its the the fact that the gas in it is old it smells cinda funky and i get this aroma of what reminds me of a butane lighter if i crank it and then go stand behind it

 

yeah if its been sitting a while its prolly gone off, drain the tank and get some nice new stuff in there along with injector cleaning additive

 

i put some new gas in it because it had less than half a tank andf some injector cleaner and it didnt help. ive had the car for a while and it messed about last year i did a little work on it and asked if we could get it fixed for x-mas i was told that it would be fixed.... i was lied too. but when it died it would shake real bad like it wasnt fireing on all cylinders. ive dug into it and got the fuel rail unbolted and and all the lines to it disconnected. but i cant get it to come out.

ps the upper intake had a black powder soot like stuff in it when i took it off. so would that mean it has been backfireing?

 

naa dosnt mean it was backfiring, its usually from the egr valve, the fuel rail will just pull out with injectors attached - mine needed a good yank.
if your sure youve got good spark at all six - check leads ? then check the timing, it takes two mins. if thats ok id do a compression check before i go any further. if compressions not there it wont fire nicely and will 'miss' that could then be head gasket or inproper valve adjustment.
just a few ideas

 

Also, need some more history...i.e. how many miles. Could it have a loose timing chain that jumped? Check also for vacuum leaks (either from the manifolds or vacuum lines), change plugs and wires, cap and rotor.

HTH.

 

its got 53000 miles.

the weather has been bad and school started back today so i won't be able to work on it as often as id like

so the injectors should come out with the fuel rail if all the bolts and lines are out.

and it wont break if im a little rough with it ?