TL;DR is in bold

My daughter's 1987 Ford E150 (4.9l straight six) has a crank no start condition. Not sure how many miles, but this thing is old.

It all started when her battery had a parasitic drain and she kept needing a jump start. I noticed that her fuel pump was making crazy noises and was running for 30-60 minutes AFTER turning the vehicle completely off. She has two fuel pumps, one in the tank near the back bumper and one on the van's frame on drivers side. The one on the frame was the culprit making noise.

So I tracked the issue to what I believed was a bad relay and after just bumping into it, the issue stopped. So at this point I think the relay was stuck in the on position and bumping it must have un-stuck it. So I replaced the relay.

Immediately after that, whenever you turn the key to the on position, the relay would click on-off-on-off super fast, making a buzzing noise from the relay. I read this could be caused by a bad ground so I made my own ground and hooked it to the relay. Sure enough, it seemed like the problem was solved whenever the new ground was connected to the relay.

Unfortunately at some point during this process, the van decided it WONT START AT ALL anymore.

The relay is working properly and I can hear the frame fuel pump turning on and off when the key is on and off, and the fuel lines near the engine shake a little when it's on, so it seems like it's working properly. But the van still wont start.

The van wont even try to start now, it cranks just fine, but there is little to no indication of combustion happening.

So I sprayed starter fluid in the intake a few times and still nothing. Not even a little bit. It just cranks over and over with no rumbling/combustion sounds. I felt like this means it is not getting spark, otherwise if it was just short on fuel the starter fluid would have caused it to at least make some rumbling and combustion sounds. Am I right?

So I took out the three spark plugs furthest from the front bumper and they are extremely black and had a lot of carbon sooty stuff on them. They seemed to be gapped correctly. I tested them against the block and they still sparked!!! So now I am stumped.

I replaced those three plugs with new ones and plan to replace the others, but now I have no idea if this is spark or fuel related. Halp!

 

After attempting to start the engine,,when it won't start, remove one or two plugs and see if they are wet or dry.

The black sooty stuff is from running too rich.
There may e a problem with , pressure regulator, in tank fuel pump, ECA, or anything else we can think of. The idea is to narrow down the possibilities one by one. Just for kicks, did you check the air filter for being restricted ?

 

I'll try that.

I have not checked it, but I disconnected the intake tubes from the air box and sprayed starter fluid into them. It didn't even try to start like that, with the tubes connected or disconnected, with starter fluid, or without. I assume this means it is not a fuel issue. Thoughts?

 

If the engine is not getting gas, but you spray starter fluid into the intake, shouldn't that be enough to fully start the engine for a couple of seconds?

 

Yes, that would be true,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,providing the starting fluid could get into the engine !!

 

What would prevent started fluid from reaching the engine?

I have the intakes disconnected from the airbox and am spraying it good into both large diameter intake tubes. This barely seems to make it rumble.

Additionally, I borrowed a fuel pressure gauge test kit and at the fuel rail it got to 45-50psi with key on engine off.

And the spark plugs spark when grounding the plugs against the side of the motor.

Thoughts?

 

You have fuel pressure.
You seem to have spark.
Did you try to see what the plugs look like after trying to start it and it would not start?

Instead of relying on starter fluid, check the plugs to see if wet or dry.
If dry, then we know fuel is not getting into the combustion chamber. Could that mean the injectors are not injecting?
Before going on a wild goose chase , take one step at a time and determine what is happening versus what is supposed to happen.

One simple check is to check all the fuses.. The ECA also determines when injection is to take place. Do you have the equip to do the checks?


You could have spark , but not at the right time. Set the crank pulley at the TDC position and look in the dist to see where the rotor is pointing.

What could have changed if it ran before and you did some relay work?

 

Thanks, I definitely planned to check this tonight!

What's an ECA and what equipment would I need for this on a 1987 econoline e150?


I really didn't do anything other than bump all sorts of wiring and tubes as gently as possible while trying to track down the relay issue. The van is 35 years old so you can imagine the level of rot and corrosion on everything.

When she parked it in my driveway, it ran normally. Now after messing with the relay issue, it wont start at all.

On this note, I do find it funny that after I corrected the relay issue, it's ground wire went sour and only supplied around 6-7 volts. I was only able to make the relay not buzz by giving it a new ground direct to the body.

 

The ECA is the engine computer. First it was ECA then ECM then PCM. all mean the vehicle computer.

Please be a little more specific when you say it won't start.

Does the starter crank the engine over and it refuses to fire up and start running OR when you turn it to start you get nothing?
Depending on which symptom determines where we go next.

 

It cranks fine but does not start. I can get it to start a little with a lot of starter fluid.

I've kept a battery charger on it so we can keep trying here and there throughout our testing.

Last night I verified 45 psi fuel pressure and then I disconnected the fuel line going to the engine and it flowed adequate. Then I reconnected it and unplugged the fuel return line and it also had plenty of flow.

I pulled two of the spark plugs immediately after trying to start for several seconds and they were dry.

Does this mean my injectors are not pulsing fuel into the cylinders?

I am starting to think the ECM is not sending power to the injectors. What is the best way to verify this on an 87 econoline? Can I disconnected one and test with my multimeter?