I just purchased a 96 E-150. It has been sitting 2-3 years. The van runs and drives. I have not drained the fuel as of yet, the van starts right up no issues. I have already changed the oil and will be doing the spark plugs, cap, rotor,wires and fuel filter today. It is running a bit rough is there anything else that I could change to help smooth her out? Should I drain the gas tank?

 

Either drain it or fill it up and maybe some fuel injector cleaner / Stabill additives?

 

I have changed the following on the vehicle. Oil, air filter, fuel filter, plugs, wire, cap and rotor. I was unable to drain old gas or syphon it out. She runs starts right up but there is a noticable shake in the motor.

Any help much appreciated.

 

I believe your van has the COP ignition system so there is no cap, rotor and plug wires per se but changing plugs is a good idea if its been sitting that long. If it starts with the gasoline currently in the tank I don't know that's something to be overly concerned about just now. Are there any codes being shown or is MIL lit?

Do a search or two here about changing plugs as the shared info here can somewhat ease this job for you AND help avoid many of the problems a lack of knowlege about this procedure can create.

I'm guessing your noticable shake is from a misfire which could be the plug itself, a bad COP, loose connection to the COP or an injector but most likely its not from "bad gas".

Adding the injector cleaner is a good idea anyway though---certainly can't hurt.

 

Yes it does have a cap and rotor as I have replaced those along with the other items. I have listed.

 

My apologies as I thought every model from '92 forward had the COP's etc.

 

"COP's" Coil Over Plug, were introduced with the '97 models that had the 5.4 motor. The 4.2 V6 & 4.6 V8 motors didn't get COP's.

A '96 E-150 is most likely to have a traditional cast iron, push rod, 5.0 or 5.8 V8 motor.

To empty these tanks use extreme caution, respecting the fire danger & disconnect the return fuel line & make the electric fuel pump "drain" it into suitable containers. However I'd do a sniff test before deciding to remove old gas & it would need to smell pretty nasty to dump. I'd also wait until after the old gas was either used up or removed before replacing fuel filter.

larman mentioned replacing "wire" presumably spark plug wires? This gave me a headache that's worth mentioning again. On my 5.0 new Motorcraft spark plug wires caused "a noticable shake in the motor" that was the result of changing how a couple of wires were routed. Did the wires 1 by 1, to avoid error, but was advised the mere route they take can make the motor run rough! Be careful not to allow wires to run side by side.

larman didn't mention if OBD1 fault codes were read, which is where I'd start diagnosing. Lots of stuff to check, let the computer help. Visually take the time to carefully inspect all the hoses, split vacuum lines cause lots of rough running. When replacing plugs on a just acquired 15 YO vehicle I'd have done a compression test.

larman didn't mention inspecting antifreeze, which is something I'd do before buying any used vehicle. You used to want it to be Clean & Green, now there's other colors, but the idea is to check for rust, contaminants & smell of gas/oil. Small head/intake gasket leaks are famous for making motors run rough & usually taint the coolant.

 

If the van starts and runs draining the fuel system is not required. Add some HEET or similar to the fuel to absorb any water in the fuel, Add some fuel injection cleaner additive as well. Then just drive it till the tank is near empty. If the engne still does not run smoothly after a fresh tank of fuel then you may have a dirty injector. If it's not to bad you can try adding another bottle of FI cleaner. If may get better as you drive it.

I have owned FI Ford since 1986 and can say that I have never come across a injector that went bad or was so dirty that it would not clean up with the use of FI cleaner. I've taken injectors out of engines at a pick-n-pull and they worked just fine as well.

 

Yes, injectors enjoy an excellent reputation for reliability.

However suggesting an injector issue reminded me of another fundamental larman did not mention. That is, when changing spark plugs, how important it is to inspect each very carefully for any sign of a sick cylinder. Running a long while with a partially occluded injector, leaky head gasket, burned valve, or bad wire will almost always discolor the deposits on the plug in the offending cylinder.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me---obviously I'm a bit new to the mod motors and what model got them, what years etc etc. This board is a great education!

Club Wagon brings up a great point about plug wires---I've chased many a rough idle or running engine that came back to something wrong with them. Routing issues can indeed cause cross talking or spark current unintentionaly leaking to ground--its sometimes surprising how such a simple thing can be so problematic.

Sounds like Larman is close to having this sorted out-----hope its still a great bargain when all is running as it should!

 

One issue not mentioned is the potential for the fuel filter in the fuel tank to clog. It is a mesh that screens out larger particles from the fuel that may damage the fuel pump. If enough rust has formed in the tank the rust could fall to the bottom of the tank and get sucked up into the screen clogging it or at least restriction flow. Just something to consider.

I put a car back into service after it sat for 4-5 years. The tank had to be replaced due to rust, both external & internal. A new one cost me about $180 for a model of car that had been out of production for aobut 18 years.

 

Thanks for all the replies. The spark plugs I replaced were uniform in there appearance so I don't think there are any issues there. Antifreeze is fine and is the right color. I need to run the fuel level down and replace with new gas. Im thinking that may be the problem.One thing I noticed is when in 4th gear it has a tendency to shake a bit?

 

Make sure all of your vacuum lines are connected and the rubber is good. I hope you installed Motorcraft or Autolite Plugs, as they seem to work best from my experience.
I own a 96 Club Wagon XLT with the 351 W engine.
How many miles on the clock and is the transmission fluid clean?

 

I would keep a close eye on the oil too. When one sits that long seals can start to dry rot and cause it to burn oil. I let one sit for 9 months while I was doing work to it and all the valve stem seals dry rotted. It went from burning 1 qt every 5k miles to 5 qts.

 

All above posts EXCEPT for Clubwagon are good.....Change the brake Fluid...... Also replace the Differential fluid....... I would Install E3 plugs.....Spark Plugs - E3 Spark Plugs | Best Spark Plugs