hey new here i have a 97 cargo van with 150000miles and a 5.2L tbi i am sure as there is no fuel rail and i changed everything from plugs down to coil and it runs almost like a warped head but there is no fluid leaking or burning. it has great spark at the plug. it needed a water pump so i figured i would do some maintainance at the same time. any help would be great, its a daily driver and been sitting for a week. thanks in advance for any help

 

You will need to do a compression test on all of the cylinders to see if any of the valves are leaking.

 

Maybe you have a blown plenum gasket. Has that gasket ever been changed? With the air filter housing off, open the butterfly values and look down with a flash light. It you see any fluids in there, you will need to get the gasket changed. If you change the gasket, get a good one so you will not have to do this pain staking job again. Search the forums for Magnum engine and the plenum gasket.

Also, have you done the 3 key quick turns to find out what the OBD-II codes are?

 

That makes 2 vans in recent posts of 96' or '97 model years which have TBI.

Did Dodge stick with TBI on some models a couple more years?

Or are we seeing 2 vans with earlier engine's installed or aftermarket TBI swaps?
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One thing I like to do with my SP wires is make sure they do not run close to any other wires. On my '89 TBI, the wiring for the hall effect sensor runs very close to the coil and SP wires. I routed mine to keep them as far apart as is feasable. The fuel injector wires and Idle motor wires are nearby as well.

I also like using a razor to my old SP wires and remove the outer insulation like gutting a snake. In areas where any wires touch the separators or each other, I double up the insulation. It conforms beautifully. Separators from a 1 mm thicker SP wire might be necessary to not crush the new wire or you can take a round file to the old ones.

Also, In areas where the wires might touch the dog house when installed.
In areas where they run around the valve covers
Any areas where the doghouse might push them downward and in when installed.
Does your ash tray cause a lump on the inside of the doghouse right above the distributor? Mine does.


In areas where the wires might touch each other when the dog house pushes them down and in.

If you look closely, you can see areas where they lightly abrade against any of the above mentioned areas.

Consider that the aluminum reflective skin on the inside of the doghouse might be grounded Depending on the state of the seals and the insulation

Also consider the amount of air that flows right in the top of the dog house and creates high pressure areas which might push wires to low pressure areas and touch each other or something grounded.

Do not be afraid of using zip ties, just don't crank them too tight, and make sure to cut the tabs off flush. Double up the insulation with the snake skin from your old wires in areas of Zip ties as well.

It costs next to nothing but time to take these measures to eliminate them as the possible current culprit, or a future one.

 

In my 97 Factory Service Manual all Magnum engines are MPI (Multi-Point Injection), there is nothing in it regarding TBI.

Either the owner does not recognize the fuel rail or someone has swapped to an earlier engine set up with ECM.