Hey y'all, new Ford owner here. Just purchased a 1988 E350 cutaway van, former Uhaul truck, 460 motor. Intermittent no spark, no injector pulse. ..will stall randomly while going down the road. Sometimes will restart immediately, sometimes 10-15 minutes later. Good fuel pressure at 40psi. Has relatively new distributor installed by previous owner, new ignition module installed by me. Thoughts? Ideas?

 

At any time did the check engine lite come on?

When the key is first turned on the check eng lite (CEL) should come on then go off when the engine is cranked over . At the time it quits and will not start does the CEL go out when cranking the engine over?

 

There's no CEL on this van at all, none to be found.

 

I could not remember if there was one on the 88s although there was one on the 1990 years.
Since the pick-up coil in the dist provides the signal for the module to fire the coil , let's start there.
This can be easily confirmed with a test lite or voltmeter. With the key on there should be power to both terminals of the ign coil. One of the wires coming to the coil comes from the ign switch and should have power anytime the key is on. The other wire from the coil primary winding should blink when the test lit is placed there and the engine is cranked . You can confirm this info even when the engine is running. Now when it quits , what we are looking for is, does the terminal on the coil that blinked still blink when you crank it over and it refuses to start? If it does not blink , the problem is loss of the signal from the dist coil or the module. If the problem was present before and after you changed the module , there is a good chance the problem is in the dist. Either a poor connection or the pick up coil is opening when hot.

 

I tend to agree that the problem is the PIP. On a whim I decided to install a known good distributor this afternoon. So far it has not stalled while running at idle in the driveway. Fingers crossed....