OK......

Got the engine rebuilt and back in the Van.
Starts fine, Idles kind of ruff and when I put it in gear it might or might die.
If it don't die when I put it in gear it will backfire once in awhile. When I step on the gas to drive it around my yard it runs like its missing.

Timings right -- Triple checked. All hoses hooked up. Same with all Vacuum and electrical connections.

Hooked my code reader and it came up with 11

So where do I go from here. I know it has to be something but ???

HELP!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi JT:

If the van starts, that's half the battle already. There are two things I think you should check:

1) Spark plug wires. It's easy to misread the engine numbers and swap two wires inadvertently.

2) Check and make sure the ground strap is secured onto the engine block. Happened to me once when I rebuild my engine. It ran like crap until I saw that ground strap fluttering all by itself.

Also, let it idle for at least 5, 10 minutes. The new lifters need to be charged up, and that takes a while. Moreover, the computer needs time to record all new setting for sensor outputs.

Good luck and let us know how it comes out.

 

yeah, first thing i thought was firing order...

 

Wires - thought that too so i've rechecked them everytime I look over what I've done - their right.

All ground wires are connected.

Let it run for 25 mins today before I checked the timing. Then came in and wrote the Help Message.

All the sensors where working before I pulled the engine but I wondering which ones could cause the same problems.

Thanks for the Help,

 

on edit:retracted a dumb idea)

 

No Idea too dumb......

I've built two 302 and one 289 in Mustangs and they worked with no problems. Also half a dozen straight sixes no problems.
Mostly Falcons and Rancheros.

But, with no room to see whats going on in these Aerostars it makes for hard repairs. Plus all the extra electronic gizmos doesn't help either.

 

how long did the car sit ? could it be bad gas ?

 

Yeah I sympathize with you JT. I just recently rebuilt my 93 3.0L engine and tranny together. There is just no room to check anything once that stupid engine is in place. Could you check these things then:

1) The vacuum line going into the fuel pressure regulator, which sits on the fuel rail.

2) When you check timing, did you remove the plastic plug which is on the upper wiring harness on the Driver's side? Otherwise, the computer might be playing around with your timing and what you see may not be correct. By the way, how the heck could you see the timing mark on these 3.0L? It's hidden way down there on the passenger side of the engine and is obscured by all kinds of things like the upper radiator hose and all the heater hoses, not to mention a million other things. I had to fab a small bracket with an arrow, threaded the hole on the driver's side of the timing cover, screwed it in place and dinged the balancer at the proper place with a punch. Now I can check timing for the first time in the 11 years I own the van.

3) You may want to open up the doghouse and check to see if the mark on the distributor is aligned with the mark on the block, and make sure the rotor is pointing to engine number one when the engine is at TDC on the compression stroke. I have always thought that if both the distributor and the rotor are 180 degrees off then everything will be fine. But I was wrong on all the engines I have worked on. That darned distributor has to go on that way or the engine runs like crap. I know you probably have a lot more experience with engine rebuilding than I do, but sometimes we overlooked the small stuff.

A very remote possibility is that you bought your parts from a company making aftermarket racing car parts (as I recall from browsing your pictures). Maybe the camshaft is sufficiently different from the stock camshaft to throw off your timing. But that would be extremely unlikely.

An equally unlikely scenario is the possibility that the camshaft and the timing gear are misaligned by one tooth. But I seriously doubt the engine can start with that.

Good luck

 

I had somewhat similar problems with my 94 4.0. The fuel pressure regulator was not regulating and the fuel pressure was 60 PSI! I replace the fuel pressure regulator and the pressure is 30 PSI. Runs much better no stalling or rough running. I think the engine was trying to flood with the high pressure.

 

copper_90680:

Will check on fuel pressure regulator vacuum line.

Yes I pulled the clip to set the time 10 BTC. What I did was take a Q-tip and pull it down to a fine point then took a can of white spray paint and sprayed the end of the Q-tip. Then used it to put a white line on TDC and a longer one on 10 BTC.
Now here it the trick.....I took off the breather hose and took out the Air filter box. It only has 3 nuts holding it on at the bottom of the box. With that off you can reach the Spark plugs if you need to plus you have a spot where you can use the timing light.

The Cam is a Melling SYB-50 that cam with the kit. I called 4 auto parts stores around here to see what Melling Cam it called for in a 89 Aerostar 3.0 and they all gave me the same part number SYB-50.

Before I put the Timing cover I quad-Checked the timing gears to make sure they were aligned.

 

Hi JT:

The fact that it's backfiring occasionally makes me think that maybe one of the spark plug wires is loose or shorted, thus dumping too much fuel down the tail pipe. Do you smell gas while it's running? Can you open the doghouse and pull the plug wires one by one (from the distributor) to see which one can be unplugged without killing the engine. Other than that, I'm running out of ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just be careful, I got shocked by one of those and it's nasty.

Regards,

 

You should try doing a "cylinder balance test". The manual for your code reader should list the procedure, but here is what I remember of it:

5 - 30 seconds after the last key-on-engine-running code is sent, give the engine a quick rev (about 1/4 throttle pedal & release). The engine will speed up to get a baseline RPM reading. The PCM will then shut off #1 fuel injector for about 10-15 seconds and determine the RPM drop. The fuel injector operation is then resumed. After a few seconds to let the RPM stabilize, #2 fuel injector is shut off for about 10-15 seconds. This process repeats for all cylinders.

After all the cylinders are done, the CEL or code reader will flash to indicate the number of cylinders (twice for 4 cyl, 3 for 6 cyl, 4 for V8, 5 for diesel) and then will flash to indicate which cylinders are not contributing equally. If all cylinders are good, it flashes 9.

Basically, if an injector is shut off and the RPM does not drop, that cylinder is not contributing any power to the engine. If the RPM drops, but drops less than when the other injectors are shut off, the cylinder is weak.

IMO, this is a very useful test to narrow your focus.

Good luck with your troubleshooting.

Cheers,
Eric

 

Well Guys and Gals I hang my Head in Shame.

I've been givin 50 lashes and Stripped of my Overalls.....

It pays to have someone else to help on these things. I traced the wires again but with someone on the other end this time.

Wire 5 & 6 were switched.......

Everything runs great now but I feel like an Idiot.

Thanks again to Everybody,
Will finish putting up the rest of my pictures tonight.

 

Dang, these remote control mechanics work pretty good. Gotta get me one. All these brains telling a few pairs of hands and eyes what to do, and it actually worked.

OK, done joking. When are they going to invent the remote control 'waldoes' to be able to work on these vans? My hands and arms are burnt and get covered with grease & dirt every time I work on an A*. Wish I had eyes on my fingertips, many times, but surely I would be getting grit in them all the time, anyway.

Glad it worked out. I couldn't face pulling an A* engine, but am glad you documented it in case the 4.0 with 220 K gives up the ghost...
thanks

tom

 

GOOD JOB JTHILL! I am glad you got it all figured out. I wished I had the guts to be able to do what you did! Congratulations and have fun with your "NEW" engine!

-Matt