Greetings all! Happy to be a new member.

Being a new member, I am also relatively inexperienced. I do extensive work on my 98 Grand Cherokee (straight 6, auto trans 4x4), so I feel like I'm not a complete idiot, but only a few steps up. I look forward to your help in becoming a junior expert.

The good- I have a new to me 1990 E350 XL 7.5 with overdrive auto van. It is the extended body. I has some RV features like a fridge and some kind of aftermarket AC unit for the back and a ventilation fan (which I now think every car should have). It runs strong and overall is in decent shape. The interior is pretty clean. Only 83xxx on it.

The bad- had some rust, I started fixing that (poorly) already to at least manage it and keep it from spreading. The fridge doesn't work (not a deal breaker, I bought it to haul equipment, but its a nice feature), likely do to sediment in the ammonia. The real issue that showed its true colors today is as follows:

I was driving the van for about 4-5 hours prepping for an event tomorrow, so the weight was slowly increasing as I gathered supplies. I had 2 200lb stage risers, so a fair amount of weight. Towards the end of my journey, the heat was going up. I stopped and got some coolant (couldn't find the reservoir but a mechanic helped me get it right in the radiator). That didn't help. It wasn't really low. I let it sit for about 20 mins to cool. I proceeded. At my next stop, I waited an extra half hour to let it cool. Figuring life was good, I moved on. After about 8-10 miles, the heat was back up and it cut out on me (luckily at low speed). I hit the ignition and it fired right up and I got it to a parking lot about 15 feet away and let it cool for about 45 mins. After that, I made it the last 8 miles home, heat was higher than I would like, but not concerning. It did not max out at any point on the gauge. It was either steady at or just after the "L" in normal on the gauge, didn't go much further. It was about 85 degrees today.

That's what happened. Here are some things I found or noticed:

1) There is a Haynes manual in the van with photocopies of the gas pump wiring and some highlighting, so I'm guessing someone has been tinkering.

2) It seemed to heat up if I wasn't pushing the gas at least a little tiny bit, or if I was on the brake.

3) The housing on the motor inside the cab and the floor around it were warm to the touch.

The initial journey of about 20 miles home, no overheating. The first several hours, no problem in stop and go/Chicago highway traffic. I was surprised.

Separate (maybe?) issue, I have a rear antilock light and the brake light on the dash that come and go, but I don't seem to have any issues with them.

With all of that in mind, where do I begin? With a low mileage vehicle of this age, I assume poor maintenance of anything rubber, and old fluids, probably more sediment (like the fridge issue). Beyond that, I'm lost.

Please help

 

Also, I may as well share my goals.

Eventually, this van will pull a 2 head horse trailer, maybe a 5000 lb cargo trailer. I am a film producer and pretend farmer. I have some critters. This will never be used in daily service. On larger film jobs, It will be a mobile office and move some of the higher dollar value gear. If I can't do that with it (after some work), I'll probably part it out.

Final note, I paid $700 for this beast. I'm willing to say that I got a good deal. The engine and trans alone are worth well more than that, so worst case, it gets shredded and sold. If I can use it though, I'd like to.

About me: I am a 23 year old suburban white boy with far too many dreams and ambitions. Mommy said I can do anything and I guess I believed her. If I need to go ***** deep in this bitch, I will. I am both smart enough and dumb enough to try anything. I have a fairly well stocked tool box, wrenches, socket wrenches, drills, grinders, MIG (FCAW) welder, some auto tools and not afraid to buy more. I am mostly unemployed and I have time to work on it. I also have access to a graybeard farmer that will help me along the way.

 

Update:

I had the van out for a job today (no other choice) and I had basically no issues. It held out for about 100 miles.

Early in the drive (2 miles) I switched it to the front fuel tank because the rear was getting low. I know that tank was FULL. I personally filled it to the max. When it cut out the first time, yesterday, I had switched it to the front tank, and today was on the front tank. I'm assuming the front fuel pump is nonfunctional and causing some of the vapor lock issues. However, it was overheating before I switched it to that.

It was just as hot today and I don't think the lake front cruise in Chicago really did too much to keep the heat down