thanks all i am giving this van a break for the weekend taking the family to universal studios (orlando) this weekend.time to get away from all this hectic mechanical work,will replace cap rotor and plug wires on monday and keep you all posted.in the mean time keep the advice and good knowlege that all you guys have so i can prepare myself when i get back.have a great weekend everybody and thanks for all your help.

 

does any 1 know the firing order on this van,and which direction i go from the # 1 plug?is it clockwise or counterclockwise from # 1 ? any 1 know the way plugs are set up in van ...exzample 12345678. drivers side? passenger side? looking at engine from front of van??thanks all help is apreciated.i want to get this right when i take cap and rotor off.

 

If your van has a catalytic convertor it may be plugged up. I had symptoms like yours and replaced all the things you have. Then I took the pipe loose at where the exhaust connects to the headers and it ran fine. Replaced the cat and no more problem. Now if any of my autos start acting up I check the cat 1st, it happened to my 86 Olds too, but I saved replacing all those parts. Good Luck

 

Actually, I don't remember you saying which engine you have. I assumed it's a 302 or a 351, but it could be a 460. Which is it?

 

Coolmom,

Just replace one plug wire at a time and you won't need to worry about the firing order. Place your new distributor cap on the distributor and leave the old one with the wires still attached next to it, and then pull one wire off of the old cap, find one the same length in your new set and attach it to the new cap on the same terminal that it came off of the old cap from.

You can start the wire into possition from the front of the van and then go inside, with the doghouse off, and pull it through and attachit to the spark plug. Use some dilectric silicon grease in each plug wire terminal to keep the water out and make them easier to get off next time. Be sure to reinstall the wire loom spacers and standoffs as they were originally. A pair of plug wire pliers can be a big help in removing the plug wires from the plugs.

Gene

 

hi every1 i installed the cap ,rotor,coil,spark plug wires,and plugs today. started the van and it ran at high idle for about 5 minutes>then as she warmed up a lil more (temp gauge was reading in the middle-normal) the idle seemed to drop down to a lower idle then it seemed like it was trying to stay started in a lower idle but eventulay shut down again.i tryed the fuel regulator test as described in earlier posts and no fuel was comming out of diagram or vacum hose.i am stumped at what or where to go from here.i will be taking it for a test ride soon and will let you know if i still have the stumping along and misses.all INFO is appreciated again in this matter.have a great day all

 

Good, sort of. Not good that it isn't fixed but now you have a baseline to go from.

IAC (Idle Air Control) or TPS (Throtle Position Sensor) are what I would check next.

Have you checked to see if there are any codes stored?

Gene

 

I experienced the same thing on a 82 E-150 and it turned out to be the EGR valve.
Sometimes cleaning won't fix the problem. You can check the valve with a hand held vacuum gun by hooking up to the valve and running the engine. Just apply vacuum
and see what happens. Good luck.

 

hi we are haviing some 1 try to come by and get a code reading for us.by the way when i did clean the egr valve the van ran good for like a day,then it went back to stumping and missing? i have installed so many parts in this van and the few left are mind boggeling? iac was replaced about 1 year ago.egr valve i havent changed out,the 1 in there loks all rusted and grimy.i am still having idle high then drop low and sometimes now it goes high on its on sitting at a light,i sit at light then it idles a little low then all of a sudden with a lil gas applyed to gas pedal it goes up high to high idle.lost and confused in this very tough repair but i can not afford to buy another van at this time.i welcome further comments and help from this forum,thank you and have a great day.p.s. i will be driving it in the morning to deliver bread i will let you al know how its running in the morning.

 

The EGR valve can get chunks of carbon stuck in it which hold it partially open. This can make it run rough or not at all. If cleaning before made it run right for a day I would move it to the top of my list of suspects.

You might want to pull it off again and see if it is stuck open or not operating smoothly. If you find a problem go ahead and replace it this time.

Gene

 

Not only could the EGR have mechanical problems, as described above, but it also could have electrical problems. There is both an EGR valve, and an EGR valve sensor that sits on top of it.

It does sound like you made progress with the ignition upgrade. You didn't report any more bucking.

 

hi we are haviing some 1 try to come by and get a code reading for us.by the way when i did clean the egr valve the van ran good for like a day,then it went back to stumping and missing? i have installed so many parts in this van and the few left are mind boggeling? iac was replaced about 1 year ago.egr valve i havent changed out,the 1 in there loks all rusted and grimy.i am still having idle high then drop low and sometimes now it goes high on its on sitting at a light,i sit at light then it idles a little low then all of a sudden with a lil gas applyed to gas pedal it goes up high to high idle.lost and confused in this very tough repair but i can not afford to buy another van at this time.i welcome further comments and help from this forum,thank you and have a great day.p.s. i will be driving it in the morning to deliver bread i will let you al know how its running in the morning.

 

i quickly used it today for about 1 hour and it seemed like it wanted to buck,and it feels like hesitation now???i just moved van from 1 area of my driveway to another and it dosent seem to want to stay running??? i have to give it gas and rev it up to keep it alive??are theses vans know for this type of prob? i also am smelling some sort of varnish smell still??? when started the van is blowing whitish blue smoke from exhaust???so frustrated at this van and alot of new parts installed??? HELP more please

 

Take the IAC off of your list and go ahead and check the EGR and the throtle position sensor (TPS) It is sounding more like TPS to me, but due to you having previous trouble with the EGR and having gotten good results for a short time after cleaning it, it's still agood idea to check it out.

BTW, Both items may set codes.

Gene

 

used van today and it seems to run worse? idle is very rough now and it seems like it is starving for gas??maybe a big vacuum leak? all hoses were checked and some replaced? this 1 is killing me guys??still surges ,thumps ,but more at lower speeds? sometimes still it wil run ok for a few minutes then when i get to a red light i have to put van in nutral and fight the gas pedal to keep it alive??? when in nutral @ red light van will jump and surge looking for the proper idle and sometimes it gets a higher idle and then sometimes it stals out??? merry x mas to me huh? to top it off after i got family home from orlando this sunday night i went to let my dogs out to go to bathroom only to have them chase a stray cat out of my yard and they went right thru my neighbors fence to catch and kill it.neighbor has been a pain for us here for the past year ,he raises stray cats to intureppt people with dogs in our area.he called animal control to try and have my dogs taken away??? we have purebred dobies akc registered and county registered>its ok though my other kool neighbors are wring me a letter to animal control to let them know our dogs can not go out because of this guys strays 4 neighbors letters should be enough huh? any ways so much to do and the holidays i just wanted you all to know have a great christmas,in all your help you have providedi think when taxes come next year its time for a newer kinda truck any sugesstions on something that is dependable and has good reviews>like in a used pickup or a good mini van? all help and responds are appreciated ! have a great nite?p.s. i now regret to get in and take this van to work as the idle and bucking has it dangerous to be on the road with it.