Hi!

I have a 88 Ford econoline van 6 cylinder that suddenly wouldn't fire. The
van is in Seattle, WA and I have since relocated to Iowa. I am flying back
out to Seattle in about 10 days and am going to try whatever I can to get
started. The history of this problem is that it just went through about 5
times where I couldn't get it to fire after several attempts each time
turning the engine over and over and then, would just fire right up. I
assumed it was an electrical short. Didn't get too concerned cause it
started after a few tries. Now, it just won't fire off after multiple
attempts on different days. I called a mechanic locally and he came out
with a laptop and searched his info for possible problems. Here's what he
did and said....

He said that a switch had been removed from an empty cavity located near the
floor by the driver's left foot area. It did seem to me that maybe
something had possibly been in this area but I wasn't sure. He then grabbed
a probe with alligator clips and went to the battery area and had me sit in
the drivers seat so I could turn the engine over at his requests. He pulled
a cap off of something in the battery area and began putting the probe in
different sockets of the cap. After 3 attempts and no success he finally
hit the probe in the right spot and it fired but didn't fully start because
he pulled the probe out of the cap before it started. He slammed the hood
down and said I would have to take it to the shop for about $450 to fix it.

Can anyone help me try something just to get it started so I can get it back
on the road. Other than this, I haven't had many problems at all. Thanks!