The first time I noticed this was the other day while we were taking my brother to a doctors appointment pulled up to a loading/unloading area to drop the liftgate and unload him, and the engine stopped for like a second and then started again, almost like the Fuel Supply or the Electrical System was momentarily cut off but not long enough a constitute a complete stall and require cranking to restart. Didn't think much of it at first because I know the Carburetor needs attention (posted another thread on it failing Smog awhile back), I just assumed it was that. But just today when I went to start the van the engine began to crank, stopped for like a second (like a hesitation) then finished cranking and started up. So that rules out the Carburetor.
I'm also beginning to wonder if this could be tied into a Dim Inst Cluster problem it is also having (As far as that goes I have already ruled out the Battery as it has a brand new tested one, and I have had the Alternator checked). I know alot of power runs through the Ignition Switch but there are so many things here just within the ignition system alone that could be causing the problem, Dist Pickup/Stator, Ingition Module (it has one of those lovely TFI ones that are distributor mounted), Ignition Coil, etc, etc. The dilema I face is ruling out whats not.

I would suspect the ignition timing might be slightly off if that wasn't controlled by the EEC, The distributor itself did not appear to be loose as I know that could throw the timing off, I'm hoping the problem is not the distributor itself because those can be pricey.

As for the Cap and Rotor I changed those about a year ago but I will check them when I get the chance. Even so this still doesn't explain the pause in engine cranking while trying to start it (that would indicate possibly the starter but then why did the engine pause while it was running (that happened actually more then once on two different days).

Could the solenoid be the culprit possibly? I know battery power is also routed through that.

Any help is appreiciated as I do not want this to snow ball into something bigger while we're all out on the road.

 

Since an ignition switch is very inexpensive it wouldnt hurt to replace it at its age to see if thats the problem. I would first look at battery cable connection to ground at the block. Sounds like it could possibly have a bad ground.

 

Hadn't thought of the bad ground possibility, and with this Van I would not be surprised.
I'll most likely replace the Voltage Regulator as well as i've had some people tell me the dim lights on the cluster could be caused by a bad one.

 

I was having a similar problem on my old F150 and turned out to be a loose ground. The cable that grounds it to the chassis came loose.