I HAVE AN 81 RAM VAN WITH 318 ENGINE WHICH AFTER A GOOD RAIN, WON'T START, ABOUT A YEAR AGO I TOOK THE COVER OFF & REPLACED FILTERS, DIST. CAP & ROTOR, WORKED OK UNTIL THIS WET SEASON, AND HAVING SAME PROBLEMS AGAIN . I EVEN PUT A PLASTIC COVER OVER THE SHORT HOOD & LOUVERS SO NO RAIN WATER WOULD GET INTO ENGINE AREA. ANYONE HAVE ANY GOOD IDEAS AS TO WHY THIS IS HAPPENING WITH THIS VAN? I DID REPLACE THE IGNITION MOD A FEW YEARS AGO & HAD IT CHECKED A YEAR AGO. SOUNDS LIKE SHE JUST NOT FIRING AT ALL, BUT THEN AFTER I RECHARGE THE BATTERY A FEW TIMES AND KEEP TRYING SHE FINALLY STARTS-WHY?

 

Could be a weak ignition coil.

 

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention, that the coil was one of the things that I replaced a year ago. This van is very low miles, and has always been very tempermental with respect to getting it started, especially after sitting for a while. I'm inclined to believe this may be par for this engine but don't know about this situation ( not garaged) because I have always garaged it before a year ago.

 

What's the condition of the spark plug wires? If they're old they will leak power resulting in a weaker spark.

 

2nd the wires.

They get a lot hotter under a doghouse than under a car hood and the insulation breaks down faster. I've had a 'quality' set of wires go bad in less than a year. The van would run horribly till they dried out.

Bad wires have caused me wet no starts in many different countries with many different types of vehicles.

Make sure your new wires do not touch each other or anything grounded.

Try starting it when wet at night with the doghouse off. Enjoy the light show.

 

Thanks for the replies, it tells me your trying to help. This van has approx 58k original. Wires are looking precisely like new. I have a suspicion about the fact that water can go right down the back side of hood crack into top of engine-there is no weather strip or rubber to prevent this. In addition the electronic ignition module and other componets are mounted right under the firewall (even though they are full of epoxy) I think the water or moisture may be causing a problem. I did lay plastic & clothespin this to keep water out & it did but still had problems. So I'm not sure unless someone with a van w/318 may have similiar problems and found a solution.

 

Unless the wires are precisely new, not just looking precisely like new, do not write them off as the culprit. I had a pristine looking set that were far from it. On a night when it does start, try spraying the wires with h20. If you can't see any sparks or notice any change in the engine's idle then write off the wires as the culprit.
I will pass on the other's recommendation that the distributor cap should have the copper/brass contacts and not the cheaper more commonly available aluminum contacts. I did not notice any performance increase instantly, but they have certainly less wear and corrosion that the aluminum ones did after 10 k miles.


My '89 also has no seal on the top of the hood, but water that gets in the ram vents does not get into the engine compartment, it only has rusted out an area inside the front quarter panel below the lower door hinges.

Only that water which drips down past the ram air vents gets inside and hugs the firewall. That water has done it's best to rust out my battery box, and has been causing multiple issues with my vehicle speed sensor internally and externally. Water was also getting on top of my Hvac box and leaking down the passenger side seat and collecting on the floor inside.

Once I left my ASD relay upside down and it filled with rain water. The fuel pump was running continuously with no key in the ignition, and I had to take the relay apart and bend and polish some internal contacts to get it to work again. Once well after the original incident I was getting a crank but no start situation and found the contacts needed another bending and polishing inside the ASD relay. Don't know if an '81 has one though.

Over the hvac box I took a rubberized mat and screwed and rtv'd it to the little ridge near the top of the hood and have some tiny paper clip like clamps holding it down where the front grill attaches to the headlight plastic shrouds, re directing the water away from the firewall in that area. I guess this idea could be extended to stretch across the whole hood to redirect h20 from the firewall. Open the hood, release the little clamps and roll up the mat for access.

I have pulled out all my wiring from behind the power brake booster, where all the fusible links were and cleaned every connector in the area with some spray electronics cleaner and filled them with Di-electric grease, and bundled all the wires with some fresh quality electrical tape and kept them away from the firewall.

I had some sort of roofing roll of adhesive backed tar like vinyl and covered the connections going into the ECM so no H20 could drip on them.

I don't know about the electrics in an 81, but one other things you might want to check is the wiring to the fuel pump, and that no water can easily get in the gas tank. Make sure that the battery terminals are clean and tight and the battery in good condition. Batteries that are run down till they can no longer crank the engine are being damaged, especially if they are not fully recharged right away. 2 hours after you take the fully charged battery off the charger it should read a minimum of 12.6 volts. If it is any lower it is on it's last legs.

Also check the ground negative wire from your battery to the engine ground, and the firewall ground are good and clean and tight. I Like having a good ground from the engine to the frame as well. Your comment in your OP about charging the battery a couple times and then it will start has me thinking an intermittant or very poor connection at the battery caused by a corroded original 1981 ground cable. Eliminate this easiest stuff first.


Try a hair dryer directly on the Ignition control module and only that if you suspect that.

Good luck and post back when you find the culprit.

 

Thanks landyacht318 for all the time you have taken to help me-sounds like you are familiar with this problem on your '89. I'll admit that there are a lot of things that may be causing this, and I may not ever find exactly why. Like I said previously, this van has always been tempermental, then add a flood situation from the carb and a little less voltage from the battery as the cranking continues and things don't get better. This van is a camper van (not raised roof) but with bench bed, and small fridge & cabinets, so I didn't use for everyday and it was garaged until about a year ago. It looks like new. I just tried starting it & it did ok this morn (very overcast & humid & wet). My fuel pump is mechanical. I do have another question for you since you are very knowledgeable on vans. The question being: can the rear brake bulb be changed fom outside. I removed the screws from the plastic lens but nothing moved. Maybe the surrounding metal comes off together with the lens, I'm not sure. I can't get to this from the inside, since there is custom **** carpeting over this area. Bulbs are ok for now but I will have to change them sometime soon-many thanks.

 

Hey glad to be of assistance. Though I have gone through many sets of wires in the 8 years I've owned my '89, they've never caused a no start situation, usually just a rough idle or some hesitation, and the occasional miss, and the lower fuel economy all those conditions cause. I've also had the joy of some high voltage surging through my body when touching them and something grounded at the same time, another way to diagnose bad wires.

About the brake light, assuming there were no design changes between 81 and 89, yes the bulb can be changed from the outside. When you took off the screws, the plastic was stuck tightly to a little gasket that was designed to keep the water out.

You will have to carefully pry it off. Maybe spray some wd40 around the perimeter before using a wide flathead screwdriver all around the area to loosen it. If it still refuses to budge without cracking the plastic, consider going through the effort of pulling the **** cover off from the inside. Finding the screws under the **** will probable be the biggest challenge.

Good luck

 

Hey glad to be of assistance. Though I have gone through many sets of wires in the 8 years I've owned my '89, they've never caused a no start situation, usually just a rough idle or some hesitation, and the occasional miss, and the lower fuel economy all those conditions cause. I've also had the joy of some high voltage surging through my body when touching them and something grounded at the same time, another way to diagnose bad wires.

About the brake light, assuming there were no design changes between 81 and 89, yes the bulb can be changed from the outside. When you took off the screws, the plastic was stuck tightly to a little gasket that was designed to keep the water out.

You will have to carefully pry it off. Maybe spray some wd40 around the perimeter before using a wide flathead screwdriver all around the area to loosen it. If it still refuses to budge without cracking the plastic, consider going through the effort of pulling the **** cover off from the inside. Finding the screws under the **** will probable be the biggest challenge.

Good luck

On the no start situation, consider the fuel delivery system as a possible culprit as well and the humidity/rain just might be co incidence.

Try starting it when it refuses to start by spraying carb cleaner down the throat when cranking. If it then starts, bingo.

The fuel might also have gone bad if sitting around for a long time. Or condensation has formed in the tank and your pumping water sometimes.

Pour a can or 2 of Seafoam into the tank.