I drove our 95 3.0l aero to work today, I was going to a job 45 miles away. It sounded like it was revving awfully high for 65-70mph, but the gear selecter said od, so I figured I was just crazy. Got to the job and tried to back up and the shifter wouldn't go into reverse. Parked for the day after realizing the shifter would go N and down, but not into rev or park. Apparently it was revving high, as the gear indicator was now off and I was no doubt in drive, driving to work. I got it home, then had to drop my daughter at work, by staying in OD.Then on the way home the van just DIES while going 35+- mph. Won't restart, smelled gas after many many attempts to start. Towed home. NO spark. I have 12+ volts at+coil. I tried my ignition module and a new one, neither sparked at the coil wire. I bought a new coil, then checked resistance at + &-, and - and coil output post. Basically same resistance new & old coil. Did my hall effects or cam, or crank sensor just go out or? Why both problems same day? I thought if it WAS THE COIL OR IGNITION MODULE, MAYBE IT GOT TOO WARM on drive revving high. Does a 95 3.0 coil get triggered by the distrib haal effects or does the crank sensor do it? I can easily see one of those being bad as they are original, with 334,000+ miles. All the tune up, coil, wires, plugs, ign module, cap, rotor, were replaced 55,000 miles ago. ALSO does this distrib have a TFI module on it? My book says to pull the distrib and remove it, like my 5.0l Mustang, but I don't see one, I think thats the ignition module on the pass. inner fender. HELP, honestly We love this van, but I'm about 1 week away from scrapping it for metal$ LORD knows it's earned a right to end it's life, but I'd like to see if I can get 400,000 miles out of it, thanx, Tim

 

Just ran codes, only thing comes up is 212, Loss of Ignition diagnostic {IDM} signal. short to ground in spark output {SPOUT} circuit. Does that help?

 

sounds like broken shifter linkage, not surprised at 300k+

these will get you started in the troubleshooting/analysis for loss of ign.

Ford 3.0L Camshaft Position Sensor

Ford DIS/EDIS "Waste Spark" Ignition System

Ford Fuel Injection » Sensors

in case you have the Thick Film Module Ign.
Ford Ranger/Bronco II TFI Ignition Diagnostics

Always check your wiring. Here is a picture of SPOUT (Spark Output signal) wire that was grounding out.

 

Thanks so much. I didn't even mention to you the squeal we've been hearing, we assumed it was the belt, OR the fact that after it died the oil pressure gauge was going crazy when cranking. So it definitely sounds like the cam pos sensor. 2 problems though, I know they are calling my motor a distributorless engine, but if I look at the pictures of the camshaft synchronizer, that looks like my distributor, as in under my plugs wires and cap. Are they just calling it that or am I looking for the cam synchro in the wrong place? Next prob is how long and how many times I cranked the motor trying to restart it... LOTS. If the oil pump stopped maybe I've damaged my motor anyway? More help please, thanks, Tim

 

Ok, Ok It wan't the cam pos. sensor, I don't think mine which DOES have a distributor even has a Cam sensor. All it was , was the rotor COMPLETELY lost the metal conduter, so obviously, no spark. However I had to pull the distributer to get the metal piece out. I put it back together, got it running, but now I need to check the timing. I found the damper marks and the spout connector but WHERE the heck is the pointer to line up with the damper??? 95 3.0 Aero. Thanx, tim