Hi all! I'm a Long time lurker, first time caller.

I've got an '87 e150 conversion van with a 302 and EFI that I've been working on as a project car on and off for a few years now. It ran fine when parked about a year and a half ago around which time I had decided to paint it and do some floor work. After getting some of that done it developed a no spark condition and then life got in the way and there it sat until about yesterday.

Spark problem turned out to be the dizzy mounted ICM, so I replaced that and now have a nice bright spark at the plugs. In the course of changing the fluids I found the frame mounted fuel pump to be bad so I changed that too. With fresh gas in the tank, oil in the crank and all those new parts I figured it would start right up, so I turned the key and Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

What's got me stumped is; I've got around 40psi (although it does seem to bleed off fast) at the rail but I pulled two of the easier to get to plugs on the driver side and they don't smell of gas as they should for as long as I was cranking it. I did also squirt some gas in the throttle body with an old windex bottle and found that it did run for a moment but immediately died so I am pretty certain it's a fuel thing. I thought maybe the injectors weren't getting a pulse so I pulled one of the injector harnesses (actually two, tried one form each bank) jumped a test light across the leads and found it to flash when cranked like it should.

So I have spark, fuel at the rail and it looks like the injectors are getting a pulse but I don't think they're actually firing. Not sure what to try next and any thought or suggestion would be gladly appreciated!

 

Can you pull any codes to look for dead sensors? I know the EEC system is primitive but it should report bad sensors, at least. It does seem to be fuel related, does the pump run while it is cranking? Perhaps the injectors are just clogged after sitting for a long period? jim

Oh, when checking fuel rail pressure, drain some fuel into a container and look for water. That happens when sitting too long.

 

Late 80's are past my experience now, haven't worked on one in over 14 years.

But, I'll post my favorite Link, and check the "Troubleshooting a No Start" first, that that will guide you in to a direction to start from.

One tip, try some Starting Fluid directly into the TB while your cranking, if you get some firing, like you did with the spray bottle, that's a sign that the pump is shutting down and not providing fuel to the rail, another reason your pressure gauge is dropping down.

Possible cause........MAP senor. The MAP sensor it tied into the ECU, if Vacuum is not "read" at the MAP, the ECU will turn the pump relay off, and you'll get a 'no start'. First, check the vacuum line from the upper intake manifold, if it's cracked, rotted out, replace the line. If still no start, replace the MAP sensor.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! Completely forgot to mention I was able to pull codes and found code 63 relating to the tps. Replaced it although the original was testing within spec with a multi-meter.

Will check the MAP sensor and associated vac line tomorrow. It does fire for a moment with starting fluid too. The pressure gauge does stay up around 42 when cranking, but bleeds off the moment I stop

 

So the MAP sensor is plugged in and the vacuum hose going to it looks fine, which is a drag because I was really hoping that I had just boneheadedly knocked that off when I was working on something else, but that turned out not to be the case.

Anyway it' raining cats and dogs today which sort of limits what I can do, so I decided to yank out the ECM to check for bad caps or other obvious problems and found what looks like scorch marks on the little card-edge connector on the side of the PCB. I'm not really sure what this connector is for though as it was covered with a warranty sticker and nothing was connected to it. Here's some pictures of what I'm talking about:








At least the rain makes my cheap rutoleum paint job look good:

 

clean it up and see what happens.

 

Did you get a fuel sample from the test point on the fuel rail?

 

I haven't had a chance to get any significant amount but when I was messing with it the other day I did bleed some off before removing the gauge and it smelled like gas and not rancid or anything. Tomorrow I'll try and get ahold of a couple empty glass bottles and bleed more off and take a picture.

 

IT STARTED!!!!

It ran like crap, but it did start and run for a good few minutes!

So I think the main issue was, and still is varnish or water contamination of some sort at the rail or injectors because i bled a sample off the gauge and it was very yellow:



Sorry, it's not a nice cold Corona. It's guzzaline.

So I disconnected the inlet line of the rail fuel pump and dunked into a 5 gallon gas can. Interestingly when I disconnected that line the gas that came out was perfectly clear (I collected it in a bottle but accidentally knocked it over later so I didn't get a picture), which leads me to believe whatever is turning it yellow is happening at the rail.





Anyway after much cranking and playing with starter fluid and twisting the dizzy and also restricting the fuel return line with a pair of vice grips we got it to fire up and stay running for good solid couple of minutes. It ran very rough at first but it was moderately smooth once it got going until it ultimately died.

So I'm thinking the next thing I might try is "flushing" the rail so to speak. By that I mean pump some clean gas through it and collect from the return line until it comes out clear.

 

Gasoline is kinda ****-yellow now, even when it isn't soured or varnished.

 

Could still be year and a half old gas in the lines or filter. Gasoline today won't light after a few months, especially the ethanol stuff unless it has stabil added. Flush it and get new fuel to the injectors.

You may have injectors that are stuck/clogged internally. Normally, you can hear a click when they are activated. A nine volt transistor battery is a good way to test them one at a time, you can feel the click if they activate. A balance test might help. The link posted before will help
Part 1 -How to Test the Fuel Injectors (5.0L Engine, 5.8L Engine)
jim

 

Thanks Jim! Good info there!

Finished flushing the fuel rail today (i mixed probably a 1/4 can of seafom into a 2 gal container with 93 octane and built pressure in the rail then bled off with my gauge until the fuel was clearish) and the van now starts somewhat reliably without having to use starter fluid, still rough idles a bit but I'm pretty happy with the progress so far.

Next I think I'll give that 9v battery trick a try and make sure all injectors are opening now that I'm pretty sure the reason for the no start was related to the fouled fuel.

Also has anyone here used one of these? Kinda pricey but if it means I can get the injectors fairly clean without taking them out it might be worth a shot:

 

Yikes, sticker shock for sure! haha

I pulled mine since I was having to replace the lower manifold. I rigged up a gadget to flush mine and check the spray pattern. Piece of fuel hose, some clamps, air line fitting, 9 volt battery, and a switch. Pressurized the injector to 30 lbs and pushed the button while pointing the injector into a wash tub. Not scientific but it worked. Had to run some Berrrymans B12 through a couple to get them cleared.

Idled A LOT better when I got it back together.

 

Try some BG first
This stuff actually works

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/gasol...ystem-cleaner/

quicker, cheaper and EASIER

 

Once your van is running smoothly several of us here would recommend using Chevron's Techron Concentrate as directed. Its not necessarily "cheap" but after about 200K miles collectively with 100% stock and original injectors not a single issue so far.

IMHO (along with others here) its proven itself to be one of the few preparations that works as advertised.