1984 Nissan Pickup just died...

Hello again! (last time here 2006!) My nephew borrowed my little Nissan truck, and while he was idling at a stoplight, it just died. He couldn't get it started again. This sounds suspiciously just like when my Jeep's timing belt went, but I want to be sure I have him check all the simpler items first. I am not where I can work on the truck myself, but here's what he's told me: They put a new battery in it, and it will crank and crank, but won't kick over. They sprayed starting fluid in the carb, nothing. A friend told him it might be the timing, and that it's getting spark on the intake side but "not on the outtake (I think that's what he said, not sure what that meant)... I have never had the timing cause a problem like that so quickly, usually it starts running bad first. I had it tuned up not that long ago, and it was running fine when he borrowed it. What should I start looking at first? This truck sits for long periods of time typically, as it is an "emergency" rig. It has about 113,000 miles on it (I think) and has been a real champ of a truck. Thanks for any help you can offer!

it has a timng chain and is not prone to breaking..

check the coils for spark.

if no spark check fusable links..

Good to hear that it is not likely the timing "chain!" I will have my nephew get someone to check those items that you suggested. I'll post back and let you know what happened. Thank you for your help!

Okay, my nephew had help testing the coil (without a circuit tester, we don't have one). He says that initially there was a spark, but after that, there wasn't a spark. Is there any other way besides a circuit tester (voltage meter?) to determine if it's the coil? Should we just replace it? (it appears they are around $30-35) Also, his friend says that there was spark on the intake side, but not on the exhaust side. What does that indicate????

Someone else suggested the fuel pump or fuel filter, or even the catalytic converter. Are those also items we should consider? And if so, how could we check the fuel pump and the converter? As far as fuel, I guess I can ask my nephew to take off the air filter and see if the carb is getting gas? He didn't mention smelling gas when they were trying to start it. Hmmm.

I'm really hoping for a simple fix here, he does not have the money to spend towing it somewhere, paying the diagnostic and then finding out it was something he could have replaced on his own, so please bear with us, and thank you for your help!

at idle both coils should spark .
check that by removeing the coil wire at idle .
one then the other..

Okay, so what SHOULD happen when we remove the coil wires? Will the car die? Neither of us are mechanics, so a little more detail on what to look for, what will happen, etc would be useful. Should I hold the wire to the coil to look for a spark? Dunno what to do....

Also, if we determine it's not the coil(s), then how about the other things I mentioned? I'd like to give my nephew several things to check while he's got the hood up, then we can post back and give the results.

Thanks so much for your help!