Hi all. I have an old 1997 E150 Chateau Clubwagon (5.4L V8) that I need to get running again. Because of the high cost of gas here in CA, I parked it in the driveway about 8 years ago. For about two years I would go out every month and start the van up and run it for about a 1/2 hour. I would keep putting gas in the tank so that I could run the engine. Eventually the battery went dead so I would have to jump it to start it. Like a lot of things I wanted to keep up but didn't, I got a different job which took a lot more of my time so I didn't continue the monthly engine run. Anyway, now I need the van again and I need some advice. The battery is dead and there is about 35 gallons of old fuel in the tank. Put a new battery in and I don't hear the fuel pump coming on when I turn the key. I banged on the bottom of the gas tank to see if I could get the fuel pump to work- it didn't. Just as well since I probably shouldn't run that old gas. I can get the engine to turn over with some starter fluid but it sure runs crappy for the few moments it runs (on the starter fluid fumes). So, I know I need to drop the fuel tank and fix the fuel pump, and drain the gas since it is so old. My question is about how the engine ran on the starter fluid. I have used starter fluid on cars before (with dead fuel pumps) and they seemed to run OK, albeit for a few seconds. But our van was stumbling. I am an old guy so it takes me longer to do this kind of stuff so any help and advice is appreciated. Don't want to go through all this and find out something later I should have known or done, or not done.

 

Because some metals exposed to moisture have a tendency to corrode , It might be a good idea to make sure power is getting to the important parts . Make sure the fuse panel has good connections where the fuses plug in. One of the fuses powers the computer power relay and that has to work before other things can.Will try to locate relays for fuel pump etc.
I wouldn't go into the fuel tank removal until all other checks say ok. Dropping a tank with 30+ gals fuel can get pretty heavy and we would try to avoid that if at all possible.

If I remember correctly, the fuel pump relay is the center relay in the fuse /relay panel under the hood. This goes back a bit, I believe there are 3 relays there and they may be the same part no. so you may be able to switch 2 and see what you get.

 

Thanks for your help. I certainly don't want to drop a tank full of 35 gallons of gas if I don't have to. I am am a little worried about the gas being too old to run it through the engine but a neighbor of ours, who used to fix cars part time, said it would take a lot longer to make 35 gallons get so bad that it shouldn't be run through the engine (with EFI). Anyway, the van did catch and run for a few moments when spraying starter fluid in through the air intake, but it seemed to stumble and run ruff. As I mentioned in my original post, I have sprayed starter fluid in other cars before when I didn't hear the fuel pump, and they all caught and ran for a few moments. As best as I can recall, none sounded like this van. Maybe because our van has a 5.4 and the others were only 6 cylinders/smaller motors. And maybe the van engine was only getting enough starter fluid to catch and turn over, but not enough fluid to run smooth. In any event, if you can give me a checklist of what to check and where it is located to rule out everything before dropping the tank. I wish this van had an access panel above the fuel pump to check and see if voltage is getting to the fuel pump it self. That would help tremendously.