2000 E-250 Extended Van 4.2L 32,000 miles

Twice in past month, it stalled, and wouldn't restart, although it cranked over just fine. Both times it sat overnight, and started up fine in morning. First time it stalled was on a cold morning, leaving driveway for work.It just stalled, no other symptons. No codes found. Almost a month later, on a long trip, it stalled on highway, 60mph. It started stumbling and missing for about 5 seconds, then died. Cranked over, no start. Had it towed to a small garage, but they didn't get to look at it till next morning, when it started up without any trouble.They ran it for two days without trouble, but did no troubleshooting, other than finding the following codes...

P0351, P0352, and P0353.
"ignition coil "A" Primary/secondary circuit malfunction"
"ignition coil "B" Primary/secondary circuit malfunction"
"ignition coil "C" Primary/secondary circuit malfunction"

I'm driving it daily, it's running great, but I'm very anxious to say the least.
The only thing that was the same in both situations was that I had 1/4 tank of fuel. Anyone have any experience with similar problem? Any ideas appreciated, thanks in advance.

Gary

 

E-250 with a 4.2 wow, that thing must be a dog.... ouch.
Anyways

Perhaps look into changing the fuel filter or even looking so far as the fuel pump. I dont see why you should have a problem with the pump after only 32k miles and 4 years. But the filter should have been changed at least once.
Has the van ever been run completely dry? especially just prior to running into this problem?

 

It's a cargo van, and it actually runs really well. Very happy with it till now.
No, I never ran the tank dry, rarely run it below 1/4 tank. I've had it a year, and it had 24k mi. on it when I got it. Not sure if the filter has ever been changed, I haven't changed it yet. Thought about the pump also, and am carrying a fuel pressure guage with me to check if/when next problem occurs. Have to start somewhere I guess.

G.

 

I'd check for shorts in the ignition system. Make sure everything has a good ground and no loose wires. Good luck, let us know if you get it figured out

 

I had the same problem In december! I was on my way home from the mall (45 Minutes Away from home) and I Stopped at a red light, Suddenly the truck just stalled. I tried restarting it and nothing happened although it was cranking over fine. So after about 5 steady tries. I just messed around with the stick and moved it through each gear and tried again. Fired right up!

 

Also does this only happen after a rainy day or in the morning if there is alot of dew on the ground? Could be an eletrical short caused by the water and it jsut needs to dry out first.

Scratch that.

Look into fuel delivery and the filter. What was the level in the tank whenever this happened, is there a place with history of bad gas where you are from?
I know my truck runs a little worse when I fill up on base, but for 10 cents less a gallon, I dont have much choice do I? :P

BTW 3 bucks a gallon is going to SUCK this summer.

 

Still running without trouble so far. I took the coil pack out today, and tested it according to the Haynes manual. It tested good. Looked at some ground connections also.

I'm confused on trouble codes to be honest. If it was the PCM or fuel pump, crank sensor, cyl head temp sensor, all which would shut it down, it should throw a code to that problem, right? I have the list of codes, and there are several pertaining to the above, as well as many others, but the only code that I had was the coil primary/secondary malfunction.

The thing the bothers me is the 1/4 tank level on both failures. My mechanic friend thinks that the fuel pump might be going bad/overheating perhaps. The low fuel level not cooling it off enough to keep running, but I'm not sure how much of the pump is actually submerged at 1/4 or lower. Again, I would think it would throw a code related to fuel problem, not the coil pack. Guess I'll just keep running till it quits again, and go from there.

Thanks,
G.

 

Well as far as I am aware, only chebbies have the problem with the pump overheating at a 1/4 tank or less. perhaps the pickup is off or it needs to be adjusted is all. I have never had my pump out so dont know exactly how it is set up. from what I can tell the pump is at the back of the tank, so if you are low on gas you will pick up gas while going uphill, and only suffer power loss going downhill where it is not as big of a deal.

p.s.
I have run my truck under 1/4 tank MANY a time, this last week I ran it for 50 miles after the low fuel light came on, and put in 26.2 gallons (26 gallon tank, and the filler neck also holds a gallon)
never had a problem......exceot once, but do not remember teh gas conditions of that one time, that was 35k mile ago

 

Just thought I'd post a follow up. Today on the way home from work, ( on the road about 10 mins) the same problem happened again. Was doing about 55, it just quit, and I had to pull over. I've been carrying a fuel pressure guage, so first thing I did was check fuel pressure. It checked out fine, right near 40 psi. Left the guage on, and pulled a plug wire off, stuck a screwdriver in the cap, held it near a ground, and cranked it over. Had no spark at all. I did that a few more times, just to be sure, and all of a sudden, I had great spark to block, and if fired right up. Went directly to a garage of a friend, and pulled the codes, which came up same as before, all pertaining to the coil pack. ( I did install a new coil pack earlier in week ) That's where I am right now. He suggested looking at the crank sensor, which I did, and it tested good, but I might throw one of them in tomorrow just for good measure, but I have my doubts. Starting to think I should take it to a dealer, see what they come up with. Can't stand driving around, waiting for it to quit.

G.

 

Ok, so at least you know what part of the triangle you are missing.

and I was wrong. I feel bad now.

 

I hate problems like this that only happen at random. If it's not a short somewhere I have no clue what else it could be. For good measure pull all your plugs and plug wires and check them out really good. Double check to make sure that all wires and connectors are secure. You may end up having to take it to a shop where they have all the proper diagnostic equipment

 

That's what you get for going to the Mall !!!!!

j/j

Tom

 

Hope this is my last post on this subject. <g> Since my last incident of the motor just quitting, I replaced the crank sensor, (easy job) and the cam sensor ( not so easy) on the advise of a mechanic friend. ( all this after a futile conversation with a dealer service writer who insisted I had bad gas in the vehicle, even though I expained I had no spark... )

anyways, it's been almost a week now, and I drove it over 300 miles yesterday without any signs of trouble, although it wasn't a fun trip with my fingers crossed the whole time.

G.