Hi all,

Since this is my first post, I start with a brief introduction. Anyone who might help with TSB, please skip ahead, question below...
About a week and a half ago I stumbled on a Ford Econoline E-150 1988 and the price was right so now, I own that truck! :-)
I have been looking for a Van/Truck for some years and been fond of the slightly "larger" look of the Ford. Chevy and Dodge are more common here in Sweden and I was on my way to look at a Dodge when I only an hour before leaving home found the ad for "my" truck. I was no 2 on the list and after I had seen the very sad appearance of the Dodge I was glad to hear that No 1 had left without any deal!
So, after a little more than a week I am stating to get familiarised with my new car and I like it... However, it is an old car and yesterday I had a startling experience.
(Here is the beginning of my question)
Suddenly in an intesection the motor died, not slowly but suddenly wiothout any warning. No problems, just start over and drive away. But later when I was about to drive away again the motor was hard to start, earlier it started easily but the idle has been uneven, most when cold. When I got on the way everything seemed fine but then, after a stop the motor lost all power and died as soon as I put in "D". Restarted, same thing, restarted, same... restarted, revved the engine some and put in "1" and off we went. Even though the motor was not fully warm and the idle was "hesitant" it seemed fine again... Since then I have not started it again...

Today I found several Technical Service Bulletins that seem to indicate that there has been some problems similar to this earlier.

(And, drum roll please, here is the question!!)


Does anyone have any information, hits, tips or (even better) the actual TSB's to share with a new Ford E-150 owner?


Well, finally, I got to the actual question.. :-)
I hope to find help in this forum and even though I'm new here my previous forum experiences from other issues are good, and I can not see how this could be different!

Thank you!

Best Regards,
Anders Östlund, Sweden

 

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As Tim said, welcome to the site!!!
You should come down and introduce yourself in the International chapter!!!
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/f...play.php?f=141

Oh, and if you look at the links at the top of this page - there is one titled Recalls/TSB's, try that

If you get no luck there, try the National Highway and Transport Safety Authority:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr.../tsbsearch.cfm

Good Luck

 

Might check the fuel pump as it could be failing and why you are "suddenly dying" at the intersection. Because it has not completely "died" .....yet, you will be able to restart the van after a short while. But because it is failing, it will cause your van to "hard start".

The carburator "Cold" jets might need adjusting but that would depend on if your 88 is carburated or has EFI. My son's 79 Chrysler Cordoba would do this when we first got it. It had a double barrel stock carburator on a 360 engine that had the early "Lean Burn System" computer for better fuel consumption. The first owner had taken off this early LBS computer that was attached to the side of the air cleaner. The carb has a sensor which the LBS would tell it how much fuel to use. These were prone to failure and many were taken off and a regular points/distributor installed. However, the carburator's cold jets would have to be readjusted. Not everyone knew this...why we got the car in the first place. It was hard starting and would stall when shifted into "D". But we knew and never had any more problems.

But then, if your fuel pump is going out, it will cause a "hard start" because it's not feeding enough fuel to the carb. Eventually as it continues to malfunction worse, it will keep "starving" your carb and cause stalling. It will cause that "hesitation" too and, Eventually, it will just plain stop working.

My husband drives an 83 Ford E150 conversion with a 302 V8. The van had a similar problem last year where it was becoming harder to start and eventually die at intersections but would restart. One day, it finally died completely while in town (fortunately, at an intersection and not in the middle of one) We managed to push into a parking lot. He thought it might be the ignition module or a carburator problem. A mechanic friend came over to see what he could do. The van would start as long as the carburator had gas in it. So it was not the carb and it was not the ignition module either. Finally figured out the fuel pump had gone out. Something that did not occur to my husband as he bought it new the previous year. Once a new one was put in, no more problems.

My own E100 van has a stock Inline Six 300 (4.9) with a single bbl carb. So far it has been running quite well considering it was hardused as a water delivery van for several years before a couple bought it to make into a conversion van. But they had to sell it. We knew them and bought it from them. The husband is a mechanic who went through the engine/transmission and so I knew that part was in good shape.

This is my first van (much less a Ford van) and learned a few of their quirks in driving them. (Always drove cars) One of the first was a well known "trick" to insure a "first time start" each time. Before turning the key, I make sure to pump my pedal two or three times. THEN turn the key and hold just a few seconds. Works all the time. Every Ford van owner I met tells me the same. The same with mechanics. Something that is not told you in a book or salesman but something most older Ford van owners will know.

 

Thanks for the replies so far! as I said in another thread, fist thing to do is to check what type of engine I have... I am almost sure it it an EFI system...

Fuel pump is another ting that might be worth a check...

The "TSB" section was a bit too obvious... ;-) But I am not sure exactly what I got from my search in the section, the statements seemed rather "brief" at the least. Is there more info somewhere? I hesitate to pay the fee for the onlune service (25 USD) to find the same brief messages...

Drove the car yesterday without any problems.. I began to wonder...could my problems be due to...inexperienced driver...? :-) But still, I think the starter needs to turn more before ingition than before. The "2-step" start procedure is one I've used on other old cars that I had. Works fine, but I think this works only for carburettors...?

Still happy about my truck and will probably invent another short "need-to-do-something" drive around the block today... :-)

Regards,
Anders

 

I checked the site, it appears there is only 1 TSB suitable for the 1988 E150 (and it is completely unrelated)

Check out what engine it is, and we might be able to help