I am giving a lot of info so you guys can help figure out this problem.

Vehicle:

1991
E350 15 passenger van
351 V8
overdrive trans
rear antilock brakes
54000 original miles


Problem:

Drives fine usually but occasionally it looses power, wont idle, and has black smoke with strong fuel odor.

This seems to happen whether it is cold or hot.
In other words when first started in the morning or after driving 15 miles.

When it occurs at idle, a stop light for instance the motor just quitly dies. If I notice it quickly I can keep it running by pressure on the throttle.

When it occurs at highway speed I just loose a lot of power and have black smoke, but it can stay running.

If it ever does actually die I can usually just start it back up without a problem. Sometimes it even starts normally after dieing and the problem is gone, other times it starts but still wont idle.

Twice it has refused to start after it died. Both times it started and ran fine after about twenty minutes.

I did check the trouble codes and gave up after writing down almost thirty codes. Many codes cotradict each other.

I tried to clear the codes to see if any codes are newly reset but they wont clear.

I took it to the dealer for diagnosis and they say replace the ECM ( $ 400 ) then see if anything else is wrong.

I don't want to throw parts at it but I don't know.

Has anybody had these problems?

 

I forgot to add that the "Check Engine" light comes on when the van exhibits these problems. It is out most of the time.

 

Have you tuned it up lately? I had a truck with a similar problem. Come to find out that the wires were going south. They looked good from up top but as you followed them down toward the plugs, they showed ware. I had one wire with a hole blown through the insulation and two others with cracked boots. All from normal engine heat type wear. The truck would run good, even if you pushed it hard, but every now and then it would labor and retard a little. You could hear it in the way the engine sounded. Just a thought. Maybe it could say you a few beans. Good luck.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.

 

I thought first about the plug wires also, but the 28 or so trouble codes in the ECM or ECU were a BIG concern.

I will probably do the basics also after I get the computer to talk to me reasonably. ;-)


No please explain to me this.
---> Ford fleet, soup to nuts. <---

I don't get it.

 

"Soup to nuts" is a term that is used to cover basically everything on a certain subject.
IE: A resturant that serves every type of food is referred to as having everything from soup to nuts. The whole gambit.

I have had many different Ford models in my fleet. Ford trucks starting from Rangers, working through F-150's, 250's, up through F-600's and 700's, and topping off with LTS-8000's and LT-9513. Plus SUV's.
Thus the term, "soup to nuts".

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 18-Oct-01 AT 03:22&nbsp;AM (EST)[/font][p]Follow up.

The dealer replaced the ECM.
It took 10 days due to waiting for a part.

All codes are gone and now the van runs good.

Also I met a tech from Ford at church and he said that the Ford Econoline vans up to 1991 had a problem with water getting into the ECM and coroding the contacts. There was no recall as far as he knew.

 

Good to hear! Jake.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.