Hello there,
I have a 94 E250 with a 351W and a E4OD. (117000 miles)
This van has been running kinda weird since I bought it 2 years ago.
From one day to the next, it can't decide how it want's to run.
One day it will run fantastic, and the next it will run like a total DOG. I have given it a tune up, checked the timing, have changed the fuel filter and tranny filter, ran my auto xray on it countless times and it has given me all clear every time. I'm thinking of going ahead and replacing the injectors, testing the timing chain and replacing that if needed, (Not looking foward to the timing gears...A real knucle buster.) putting in new cats, and replacing all the spark plug wires. (Factory origanal wires I believe) I fear I might be looking into this problem with too much of an old fashon attitude, and don't want to replace this stuff if it's not really needed, and I hear that all these wacky gizmos (EGR, O2, ETC.)hanging off my engine could cause these problems too.
Soooo....before I go thru all this, does anyone have any ideas on what else might be the problem?
Anybody seen this happen on similer vehicles perhaps?

Any suggestions would be MOST helpful.
Thank's in advance,
Mike

 

Anyone?

 

It could be as simple as the wires. When it runs like a dog does it misfire?

Could also be the TFI or the hall effect sensor (PIP) inside the distributor.

The thing to do is to try to look at the problem on one of the days it decides to run like crap.

 

Thanks for responding!
I'm gonna look into how much the stuff you mentioned costs, and if it's cheap enough I'll just replace them.
It never misfired but it has tried to stall at stoplights and then came back out of it on it's own.
Basicly it just runs like it's worn out, but after a restart sometimes it feels super strong again. But that can even change and it will do the reverse.
I checked out the timing gears today, and the rotor spun at around 3 or 4 degrees so I'll let that go for now.
In the morning I'm gonna get 5 gallons of cam 2 racing fuel and run that thru the injectors, and I'm going to replace the cap, rotor, PCV, and the wires. I'm also going to replace all the tranny fluid, including the fluid in torque converter.
Thank's again for the ideas, I need all the help I can get.
Cheers,
Mike

 

See these links for more information on the TFI/PIP:

http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/TFI-PIP/TFI-PIP.htm

http://www.etconnect.com/gt/tech.htm
(search for TFI)

 

Thanks for the link Greg!
I printed out that little tip for reference. Valuable info!
This afternoon I replaced the wires, cap, rotor, and the tranny fluid.
I must have done something right because it ran like a scalded dog!
I mean it ran just GREAT! I only had the time to drive it a few blocks, but it did seem MUCH better.
I will give an update on it in a few days to be sure, but if it acts up again I'm going into the distributor.
Thank's again,
Mike