HI,
My 1988 E-250 sat for about 3 months,and now it will not start.The motor turns from the starter,but will not fire.I sprayed a little fuel in from one of the Air hose,and it starts to run for about 5 seconds then dies.It seems like iam getting no fuel.I tryed for a hour to get it running with no luck.Can any one help me please.

302,fuel injected

 

does it have dual fuel tanks?

 

Do you hear the pumps run when you turn the key?
You should check the fuel rail pressure. There's a schrader valve on the fuel rail that you can put a tire gauge on, but you need to be careful not to spray fuel. Actually first just turn the key on and off a couple of times and press the center of the valve just like letting air out of a tire (be sure there are no ignition sources nearby). Fuel should spray out, it's under about 40 psi. Wait for the fuel to evaporate before messing with the engine again.

Normally I'd suggest water in the gas but that's not very easy to gum up the 302 since the fuel injector rails circulate extra fuel pressure back to the tank. If some water was picked up it would have flushed through the rail and went back into the tank and you'd probably get good fuel sooner or later unless it's like totally water.

 

No its single Fuel tank only,iam going to give it a try some time today.Thanks for the info Dannym.

 

I tryed to get it started yesterday but no luck.I put a 12v tester on the electric fuel pump and got only 5 volts going to it.I must have a bad wire(s) some were.I dont hear it coming on at all.

 

My fuse box is only throwing out 5volts.Do i need a new fuse box?Plus on the driver side under the hood near the fender were all the electrical wires lead to under the dash there is a black square plug with wires leading into the other ones.Next to that black plug there are two open wires not connected to any thing.One is live 12v and the other is dead.The live one is orange white stripe,the other is darker orange.I may need to post a pic so every one can see this electrical nightmare in the hood.All thoughts are welcome.

 

First off, are you sure the pump should be getting 12V and not 5v?

On any Ford that has sat for a long period of time without starting it, I start with replacing the fuel pump.

Second, without having a repair manual for your vehicle, I would assume that a relay needs to be replaced for the fuel pump.

Do you have two fuel pumps?

One in the tank and one in the rail? That is normal for 84-90 Ford trucks.

 

One in the tank and one on the frame.They are not turning on.I have a few fuseable links that have little pimples pokeing out of them.Is that ok?Were is the relay on the 88 E250?Is it under the hood near the radiator and celinoide.Dose It look like a sqaure metal part with a few wires pluged into it.

 

Hi,

> My fuse box is only throwing out 5volts

Please explain this further, what fuse box and what fuse are you testing?

> Do i need a new fuse box?

Highly unlikely.

> One is live 12v and the other is dead.The live one is orange white
> stripe,the other is darker orange.

Okay, I now have a Haynes book for your year range vehicle. Shows 87 and up so there might be minor year differences.

The only orange with white stripe I can see is circuit #351 (it shows a connector) and under the hood it would feed power to the TPS, EGR Position sensor, MAP sensor. Those in turn feed directly back to the CPU and without the MAP sensor the vehicle probably would not start so the CPU probably is not turning on the fuel pumps.

I would assume dark orange was probably a power wire, but, being in that connector it might be a ground wire too. So do NOT hook a test lamp into the connector to see if it is negative unless it is a LED type computer safe probe, otherwise you might blow the CPU.

If your dark orange wire could actually be tan, then this might be the power feed wire to the CPU, a fusible link! It would be hot at all times and connected to a yellow wire.


> I have a few fuseable links that have little pimples pokeing out of them.
> Is that ok?

If it looks like a heat shrink splice, yes, if it is sticking straight out at 45 degrees or something no.

On most Fords trucks in that year range all the important relays are under the hood on the pass. fender.

> Dose It look like a sqaure metal part with a few wires pluged into it.

This sounds like the horn relay.

 

Yes, i have 2 fuseable links with a little pimple sticking straight out.Like its having birth.I know were the horn relay,its on driver side.Ive had it running with out the orange wire connected.I will get some pics and post them.I have a Haynes that dose not tell you to much.

 

Thanks for the help starting my van today.I replaced the the Fuel pump relay,and it started up on the first crank,very nice.I didnt see them at first because some one never put them back under the plastic cover,they were down in the fender.There was two,one was the fuel pump relay,and the other one looked the same so i replaced it also.They were all broken up inside.I have one other problem,the alternator will only charge the battery for about 2 min. then stop.Then the battery starts to loose voltage slowly.If i turn the heater on slow for the blower the alternator starts to charge the battery then stop.I can repeat this while the motor is running.

 

Make sure you have a solid ground from the battery to the chassis and to the engine block.

On many fords you will find the battery DC - connects directly to the frame with a heavy gauge cable. From that point a heavy gauge cable connects to the engine block. It's like a three point system. Make sure both cables and all connections are good and solid. The connections are subject to corrosion. I have fixed at least a few mysterious charging/voltage problems just by replacing the ground cables. You may have other problems, but this is the first thing I would check.

 

Yes, i will try that to.Thanks.I tryed useing 2 neg cables one to engine one to frame with no luck.Also was looking for bad wires today under the dash,and the plug going into the egnition starting unit, up on the steering colum fell out.I barely touched it, and the motor quit.I pluged it back in and it started back up,but still same problems.Funny thing is i have a 1985 F350 diesel that is not charging the two batteries.Thank god not as many wires then a gasoline engine.

 

The alternator problem sounds like a bad battery. If the battery has covers, remove them and make sure the water level is up in each cell. Do not do it until after the battery has sat for a while. If you cause a spark with the vent caps off when it has been charging = boom.

Then what I do on my vehicles is make sure a new ground is run to the engine, frame, body, exhaust (o2 sensor trucks) and voltage regulator (just use 14 guage or something light) directly from the battery. I use a marine battery terminal and terminate all the cable ends with lugs. I usually use 6 guage wire. When welding or doing vehicle repair all I have to do is remove the wingnut and take off all the cables in less then 30 seconds. I use a lock washer under the wingnut.

 

Update!All this time it was the alternator.It was new,i bought it back in march.I took it back to napa three times from march to september to have it tested,and every time they told me it was good.Yesterday i paid a mechanic to work on it,because i was getting real mad that is was not running right.Things look good,and running strong.No more ping from the motor now that the amps are up.What went wrong?Dose my Napa need a new tester.Or did they just go out back and smoke a cig then comback to tell me its fine,and forget to test it.

Not
Another
Poopy
Alternator