I have a 1989 econoline 150 5.0L. Having trouble diagnosing a intermittent stalling issue. Sometimes I'll drive it all day and it won't ever stall thing the next day get in it and it will stall 5 or so times in less than a 5 mile trip to the gas station. I've replaced the ignition control module, idle air speed valve and both battery cables. If anyone has any ideas what this could be please let me know. P.s I just bought this van about a week or so ago drove it over 100 miles home with no issues then the next day is when the issue started. Not sure how long the van had been sitting

 

You left a lot of questions here??

When it stalls, does it start right back up? Do you need to wait a time before it will re-start and run??

Did you hit some rough road, pot holes when it stalled out??

If it sat for a time period, did you have old gas in the tank? Is the gas "fresh"?

Do you have the means to do a 'fuel pressure test' ?

Just for grins, crack the gas filler cap, and leave it loose, the stalling could be a vapor lock in the gas tank. See if it stalls again??
Do you have a "locking gas cap" on this??

Can you hear the fuel pump run?

Also, post the mileage of this van. Auto tranny??

Go through this first, then I'll post some other questions and suggestions.

 

89 e150 5.0L odometer reads 87k but more than likely has 187k. Auto tranny. When it stalls I put it in neutral turn ignition off then restart it and it fires right back up every time. Never done it when hitting pot holes or such. Usually does it between 25-65 mph sometimes does it going up hill and then sometimes just on flat straight roads. Lights don't go off or dim. Has fresh fuel 93 octane is what I run. I've only used the front tank so far haven't switch to rear yet. But the in tank low pressure fuel pump kicks on and so does external high pressure pump. New fuel filter as well. No locking fuel cap. I could probably scrounge up a fuel pressure gauge. Also never has stalled at an idle.

 

Yes, given year, more likely a 1 in front of the mileage, or even a 2??
Sure glad that was changed in '92+

So, your cruising along, the engine stops running, you pop the shiftier into neutral, hit the key to start, and it starts right back up, and you shift to D, and continue down the road, correct??

Back to basics, you need fuel, ignition, and compression for an engine to run.

You have all three at start up, and at most times, one is "dropping" out in the run cycle as you drive. We got to find which one now.......

At idle, is the idle high, wave up and down, or a steady smooth idle?
When you put it in gear, does the idle drop slightly? *under load*
Tossing that out there, to see if you have a vacuum leak.
What condition are the rubber vacuum line on this 26 year old vehicle?

A fuel pressure test would be helpful, you can "barrow" the tester from most parts stores for testing.
Also, does the 2nd tank work? have you tried it yet?

I had a '89 that had a similar problem *years ago* just driving along, it would shut off, check the key switch, ignition switch, which could cause this same problem, I traced it down to the 4 or 5 connectors that hang off the bulkhead, over the front of the engine, the engine wire harness connectors.

One day working on it, it was running, I "giggled" the connectors, and it shut off - Bingo, found the problem, I cut off the connectors and butt spliced all the wire together, didn't plan on pulling them apart again, cause I had just replace the engine, removing the OEM connectors solved all the problems, plus, the curse control was not working, and that started working again

My long story.........Try the same thing on them harness connectors, while running, move them around, pull on them, twist them, see if this might be the cause??

I asked about potholes, rough road, if it shut off, thinking that any "jarring" would effect the key switch/ignition switch, and also the above mentioned connectors.

 

Correct when it dies I throw in in neutral restart the engine and back to drive with no problems.

The idle is nice and smooth no surging or anything. But when I put it in any gear reverse overdrive drive or first. The rmps drop slightly but then immediately returns to where it was at idle.

The vacuum lines look fine no dry rot or anything.

I haven't switched to the rear tank while driving yet but the in tank pump works in the rear tank as well.

I'll try what you suggestion with the connectors cause that is what I too believe is happening. Loosing spark somewhere down the line.

Also I was looking it over again last night a found the the vent hose on the front tank is dry rotted and had collapsed causing full to spill when filling up. The hose was pretty nasty so i probably need to drop the tank and clean it and the pick up screen. Cause I'm sure all that crap from the hose is in the bottom of the tank.

Thank you for being so helpful!!

 

You don't need to 'quote' what I write, just add what you want to.

From what you described, Yes, it could be the ignition just dropping out for a second, thus, killing the engine. So, check those connectors I mentioned.

From what you write about the fuel vent line, Yes, that could also be the problem, as the pumps in the tank do have "sock filters" that might be getting plugged up. Not a real easy task to drop the tank, but sometimes very necessary.

That's where a fuel pressure check sometimes help in finding the problems, if the pressure is out of spec'ts with a bad pump, or a plugged filters, it would show on the pressure gauge.

Test's are better that guests

 

Sorry was hitting wrong reply button. I was wondering why it was doing that.

I giggled twisted pulled all connectors while van was idling never died just nice smooth idle. Even giggled the ignition switch while running and no difference same idle.

Dropping the tank is no problem. Have a pit at work. Didn't think it was fuel related til last night. But gonna be doing a pressure test tomorrow at work and gonna drop the tanks regardless just to inspect.

 

Hi zmcarideo, here's what I found in my rear tank of my '88 E150 with the same symptoms as yours. It would run down the highway for maybe an hour, then just seem to run out of power, then die. Coast to the side of the road, restart, idle a minute then good for another 40 minutes or so. It did this from Illinois to Texas. Still don't know what the white stuff is but my brother had added lots of Heet thinking it was water in the gas. He never switched to the front tank because it hadn't worked in years. jim

 

Thanks jimandnena for the info will be dropping my tanks tonight to see what I can find. My brothers mud toy (93 jeep Cherokee) had similar symptoms the other day and we drop the tank to find the pick up filter was clogged up bad. Hoping for the same easy fix

 

Dropped both tanks. Front tank was pretty nasty so I cleaned both tanks and coated both with red kote. Installed tanks back in van filled up with fuel and switched to rear tank cause I never ran the van on the rear tank while the issue was happening. Hooked up fuel pressure gauge has 40psi at the rail. Drove it two days with fuel pressure gauge hooked up and it stalled out again never lost fuel pressure. Checked spark has spark everywhere. Any more ideas on what to check?

 

Just for kicks, you might have a EGR Valve hanging open.......

 

I'll take it off and clean it when I get home won't hurt to try

 

89? ODBI or OBDII ?
Did you check for codes ?

 

OBDI I'm guessing or does it only have the self test plug? and no I have not. If the check engine light isn't on will there still be codes thrown?

 

Can anyone tell me how to pull codes from the self test plug?