Hi, I need help desperately, my van has over 200K miles on it, and I’ve replaced the transmission twice. I bought it used at around 120K miles, I have not had a tune up on it due to lack of money. My husband is always so busy that I am left to my own devices of fixing it. I filled it up with gas, and about 1/4 mile down the road and it started to spit and sputter, then died, I got it to crank again and coasted to another store where it never cranked back, just kept turning over, but not cranking. I put fuel injection cleaner in, but it still didn't crank. I have replaced the fuel filter (bought new) and fuel pump (bought at salvage yard looks new).
I tried to crank it while it was on the jack, but the battery was dead, so I took my husband's battery, and it cranked while it was still on the jack but once I let it down it died and won't crank back. It will turn over like it's trying to start, but not firing. I haven't checked the plugs or anything else, I just need some really good suggestions to know what to look for so I don't over spend, I REALLY can't afford anything, but have to have my van working. Please help! Thanks so much.

 

Not trying to be a smart a$$
You didn't by chance accidentally fill with diesel instead of gas did you?
I see it all the time. Check your receipt just in case.

 

Nope, I checked, and the gas station I was at only sells unleaded. I even had the Dept of Agriculture come and take a sample of the gas and it was fine.

 

How about water in your gas. If a tanker just filled the in ground tanks the water (condensation) could have been agitated through the gas. Just a thought, I have seen it happen more than once. I never buy gas when the tanker is there for that reason.

 

Check for fuel pressure on the injector rail.
If you push in on the schraeder valve (looks like a tire valve) on the fuel rail and no gas squirts out you have no fuel pressure.Turn the key to the "on" position for a couple of seconds to give the pump time to build pressure then turn it off before checking for pressure.This is definately a shadetree method and the right way to check the pressure is with a guage.
You can try banging on the underside of the tank with a broomstick and see if that gets you running.The reason this sometimes works is the brushes in the pump motor wear out and this can get them to make contact with the commutator for a few miles.This is why fuel pumps mostly always quit after the car has been shut off,the vibration from the road keeps them against the commutator.Check the fuses first but the best fix will be to get a new fuel pump.Some years require a wiring harness adapter because the superbrains at Chrysler decided to switch the pump wires around on the plug.If you want to save $75 or so you can take the plug apart and switch the wires back but it's a tedious job so beware.

 

Get the basics right first. You need the air/fuel mixture, spark, and compresion. I am going to assume that the engine didnt blow up without making any odd noises so the compression is fine. Now you must check for fuel and spark. You can check for fuel by pulling a fuel rail out ot the intake and cranking the engine a little. Do this after you verify if there is fuel pressure. Also if you do this, wear safety goggles, point it away from you, and wrap the fuel rail in a towel.

If you want to verify if there is no fuel the true lazy way, get a can of starting fluid and spray some down the intake and see if the engine runs for a second or two. If it does, then it means that it is not getting fuel.

To check for spark is not too hard either but it can give quite the shock if you get zapped. Pull one of the spark plugs out and reconnect the wire to it. Then hold the plug tip to the engine block and have someone crank the engine over briefly. You should see some sort of spark between the spark plug and block while doing this.

I'm going to bet that you don't have fuel so I would start there. Maybe go pick up a can of starting fluid as that is the quickest and easiest way to determine that you are not getting fuel.