I am thinking about acquiring a 1984 E150 conversion van. Unknown engine,guessing between a 5.0 or 5.8. Owner says it runs fine going down the road, but when you come to a stop, it dies. What would be the culprit?

 

84 I believe is still a carb on it. Could be something as simple as needing an adjustment.

 

do a compression check on all older vehicles prior to purchase.
could be fuel pump but it does sound like the carb. maybe the float is not cooperating. if you can stab the throttle to keep it going then maybe the idle is turned down way low or maybe the idle circuit is clogged. expect total carburetor rebuild and cleaning with ultrasonic bath.

 

Probably the carb but could also be a lockup torque converter not disengaging.

That's if that year and trans had a lockup converter.

Does it 'buck' when it comes to a stop; like if you're in gear but forget to put it in neutral or disengage the clutch?

 

Pretty sure that yr did not have a lockup converter.

 

I don't know, all the guy told me was " It runs good, as long as you're moving. But when you slow down, or come to a stop it'll die,and then you have to hold pedal to floor while cranking,or wait an hour and it'll start right up"

 

Definitely the carb

 

Kinda what I was leaning towards. Van is located 124 miles from me. He said it might make it back if I did not let it stall coming to a stop

 

So is the price pretty dang low? ... How many places would you need to stop along the route? Can you afford a long-distance tow if it doesn't make it?

Have you worked on cars much? Find out what carb it has (probably a Holley 2bbl) and buy a kit for it along with a couple of cans of Berryman's B12. If it stalls somewhere, pop the carb off and rebuild it.

If you don't think you could do that.....I would pass on it. Or tell the guy you'd give him $100 extra if he delivers it to your place.

 

I'm working on that very plan trying to offer $100 to deliver it to me

 

Factory Ford carbs and Holley carbs are super easy to work on. If you pick it up, and have to stop, could always stick it in N and give it throttle to keep it running.

 

@Jeff Wecker:

"I've been working on my own cars for well over 30 years"

Ah, but how many of those cars had carbs?

 

If the 1990 F-150 is running reliability and needs no attention or repair why in the world would you trade down so low--what's the allure of a 1985 van with known issues?

 

This sounds exactly like vapor lock. The fuel is boiling out of the carb bowl. That could be a serious problem if it's happening while en route. My van will vapor lock but only after stopping with a hot engine that evaporates all the fuel from the bowl, but it's never happened while running. This is a problem I could not solve over the years except with a squirt of starting fluid. It's a puzzle how to prevent vapor lock. I insulated all the fuel lines, made heat sinks, rebuilt the carb, tried to block heat from the carb, ran with the doghouse off. Agony. changed radiator. I could not solve it. When the van was cold it would start immediately. when it was hot hot but only sat parked a minute or two after getting gas, then it would start immediately. But if sat for like 5 minutes I could SMELL the gasoline evaporating and HEAR the gas boiling and the engine would just crank and crank, zero ignition, unless I floored it and cranked it OR squirted starter fluid in the carb. very annoying.

But I imagine you could limp it hundreds of miles but that price should be in the $500 ballpark because it's a headache to fix this problem.

It sounds like the fuel bowl is not refilling first of all, and then there is not much fuel to boil so it just boils and then the air/fuel mix is off with this superheated mix not rich enough to even run. Multiple issues with fuel and heat and fan and maybe the fuel pump and fuel lines are creating a vacuum. There is a vent nipple on the fuel tank that might be clogged.

 

Damn near all of them