I have a 1999 E 150 4.6 that was warming up the other morning, when I left for work I got about a 1/4 mile and it stalled at a stop sign. It would not restart. The engiine turns over but has no spark and would not start with starting fluid. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to what to check first? One other thing I noticed the volt guage in the dash is not showing any voltage, it stays at 8 volts and dosen't move when the key is turned on or with the engine cranking.

Thanks, Dwayne

 

Hi Dwayne,
My first inclination would be to check the wiring from the battery to the fuse panels. It does sound like you lost a connection to certain circuits. Do the warning lites on the dash come on when you turn on the key? A good place to start is to check all the fuses.
Do you have a test lite or voltmeter to use ? If so All fuses that are hot (have voltage) on one side should be hot on the other side of the fuse. There are some fuses that only get voltage when the key is on and they are checked the same way.
If you have the owner's manual it will tell you what fuse(s) control what and their location. Try that first and get back to us. If you have a test lite just connect the ground clip to a good ground and probe the tops of the fuses, there is no need to remove them if you can do that. Any fuse that is hot on one side and not the other is defective and has to be replaced, and should be replaced with the same rating as the one removed. Sometimes in a bind you an temporarily substitute a higher number fuse to get going, but the correct rated fuse should be installed as soon as possible.

 

I started at the power dist. box with the test light and found a blown 30 amp fuse and replaced it. No joy! I'm moving on to the fuse block. I don't have a diagram of the dist. box so I'm not even sure what that fuse was for. I do get warning lights when the key is turned on, oil light ABS,seat belt,battery, ect... they go off after a few seconds except the battery light. the volt guage does go up slightly but still only around 8 volts. Voltage at the battery is 13.64v

 

I found the diagram for the fuses and the blown fuse was for the IDM relay.

 

Did you have a battery charger on that battery ? A fully charged battery usually reads 12.4 volts or one or two tenths more.
No big deal, it's just unusual for a vehicle that has been cranking to have such a high no load voltage. Does your manual call for a 30 amp fuse in that spot? It seems kinda large just for a relay unless someone else put it there, or maybe its for something else.
You didn't say weather the truck started after replacing the fuse. Did it?

 

I did have it on the charger prior to to that reading. It was turning over slowly due to numerous attempts trying to start it. as far as the schematic of the fuses I got it from motorcraftservice.com. I have owned the van from new and do all my own repairs so that fuse has never been changed. no it still didn't start after replacing it.

 

When cranking to start does the check engine lite go out or does it stay lit?

 

I just realized I have no check engine light when the key is in the on position or when cranking

 

You could check these things in the following order.
Make sure you have 12 volts going to the PCM.
Make sure you have a good ground at the PCM.
Verify if the bulb for the check engine light is good.
If all the above check out OK, You could have a defective PCM.

 

I pulled the trigger and picked up a used PCM from a running van at a junkyard (numbers matched). There is no change, low voltage reading on the guage,no check engine light and the engine turns over normal. any idea where to go next

thanks Dwayne