Alloro and Mobile Repair, Thanx for your help. Mobile, I wiggled every daggone wire that I could get my hands on under there. Not a sputter! I'm a marine electrician and sparks don't scare me (unless the bilge is full of gas), so I wanted to see some! NADA! Cars (trucks) use all of those weenie connectors, so I didn't jerk on them. But I did take as many apart to look for corrosion. If the van won't start and run tommorow (so I can go get it on the diagnostic computer), I'm planning to take the fuse/relay box under the hood apart to check all of the connections there. Alloro, I agree that water in the gas probably wouldn't cause the spark to go away, but I'm 57 years old and cars and boats should have carbs and distributors and points and stuff that will get you home. I was just envisioning sensors and their evil cohorts, computers, seeing steam and water vapor and freaking out! Keep thinking, guys! Thanx, Spence.

 

Did you check that in-line connector coming off the battery I mentioned in my previous post?

 

Alloro,
I sent a "quick reply" that I don't see posted. Maybe it goes directly to you? If not, it was to the effect that, yes, I checked that connection and it was excellent. I've been cranking and it's been starting and running without fail! You don't suppose this is some sort of sick prank that Dodge plays on their customers, do you? I mean the van had literally just turned 125,000 miles when it happened! Do they keep records of how much money each owner has spent at their dealerships so that if, at 125K, the dollar amount is insufficient, BOOM!, their vehicle dies and they are forced to bring that dollars spent amount up to a sufficient level to run again? Ya' know, they can do that with computers! Think about it! Now, even if my van runs great for the next 200K miles, it'll always be in the back of my mind..... Still plugging away, Spence.

 

If it started after checking the connections then you may have had a loose connection that you got plugged back together and fixed the problem this way.

 

Well, I finally figured out what was happening (actually my friend Tom Stovall did). Tom worked for Ford for 25 years or so, and was the electrical troubleshooter at his dealership. I fired up the van and drove it 9.9 miles to his place, where it died as I pulled up to a stop! He determined that the ASD relay sends power to the coil, etc., which I pretty much already understood. He found that apparently the ECM "supplies" the ground to the ASD relay, and that wasn't happening. The part of the ECM that handles that was on the way out, and we verified this by cutting the ground wire to the ASD and splicing a section of wire to each end. We put a terminal on each extension and grounded them to the negative battery terminal and, Ta-Dah!, it ran. Unfortunately, as I said, the ECM was on the way out, so about 2 miles down the road the van coughed and gagged and died for good. So at least I know what's wrong and I'm now looking for my best deal on a new ECM. I'd also like to have a good electrical system schematic, so that in the future I can look at that instead of doing it the hard way. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanx, Spence.

 

While you're looking for another PCM install a switch on that ASD ground wire. Turn the switch on and the ASD relay will engage so at least you can drive it.

 

Get the factory manuals:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

 

Hey, Alloro,
I found a computer in a salvage yard in Tampa. Van's identical to mine (even the same color...Florida White). My Daimler/Chrysler # on the ECM is the same except mine ends "AE" and that one ends "AB". I figure that the last letter might be like Ford's... indicates mfg. date? Or maybe a revision #? You think it's a deal killer? I'm leaving @ 6:30AM. Thanx, Spence.

 

What's the full number off your PCM?

 

Alloro,
The # on the old one is P/N: P56040346AE. The replacement's # is P/N: P56040346AB. Once again, same van, same engine, same tranny, same color (ha,ha). Should work? Also, would I have to get it re-flashed? The vehicle it's out of ran, but had a rod knocking. Ya don't suppose it'll make my rods knock, too (ha,ha, again!). Thanx, Spence.