Hi all. I have an old 1997 E150 Chateau Clubwagon (5.4L V8) that I need to get running again. Because of the high cost of gas here in CA, I parked it in the driveway about 8 years ago. For about two years I would go out every month and start the van up and run it for about a 1/2 hour. I would keep putting gas in the tank so that I could run the engine. Eventually the battery went dead so I would have to jump it to start it. Like a lot of things I wanted to keep up but didn't, I got a different job which took a lot more of my time so I didn't continue the monthly engine run. Anyway, now I need the van again and I need some advice. The battery is dead and there is about 35 gallons of old fuel in the tank. Put a new battery in and I don't hear the fuel pump coming on when I turn the key. I banged on the bottom of the gas tank to see if I could get the fuel pump to work- it didn't. Just as well since I probably shouldn't run that old gas. I can get the engine to turn over with some starter fluid but it sure runs crappy for the few moments it runs (on the starter fluid fumes). So, I know I need to drop the fuel tank and fix the fuel pump, and drain the gas since it is so old. My question is about how the engine ran on the starter fluid. I have used starter fluid on cars before (with dead fuel pumps) and they seemed to run OK, albeit for a few seconds. But our van was stumbling. I am an old guy so it takes me longer to do this kind of stuff so any help and advice is appreciated. Don't want to go through all this and find out something later I should have known or done, or not done.