Hi, i have a 93 5.2 ram van wagon.
128,000 miles, recent oil change, new IAC, new water temp sensor, new asd relays new radiator.

The van has been great, drove a few hunderd miles at christmas, then back and forth to work all fine, always starts on the button. But last week on the way home as i came to a stop at lights the van just died as if it ran out of fuel. I managed to get it home after pumping the gas pedal and keeping the revs up.

so the symptoms are now this: starts right up from dead cold, as soon as i put it in drive or reverse it struggles to adjust itself and either idles bad and/or dies. then it is really hard to start back up,- i have to keep the throttle wide open as if clearing a flooded engine then if i leave it in park it eventually settles but stalls again if i switch to drive again as before.
If i do get it up to 30mph it seems fine until i slow down then it starts struggling and im back to square one.


With the doghouse and air cleaner all off i can hear the IAC adjusting.. its a deafening hiss. it doesen't seem particularly fast, should it be a quick moving adjustment? could i pre-adjust it before installing?

Ive since replaced the oxygen sensor and TPS but no change.

Its as if the IAC isn't adjusting properly/fast enough? cant really smell excess fuel. Ive put a new TPS and oxygen sensor, cleaned out the TB but no change. any ideas? - sorry for the long explanation but thought it best to be clear.. ive read the other posts abut IAc and stalling but this seems to be something else..? thanks guys.

Also since ive had the van when i first turn the ignition on i hear a little fuzzy hiss, a motor whirr and what seems to be an electrical BZZKK is this normal?

 

Yes, those are normal start up sounds.

For the stalling...have you done a fuel pressure test yet? If so, what was the PSI reading?

 

That was my next step. I'm trying to find a cheap tester gauge. They're about 100 dollars over here! (uk) I was thinking of using a vacuum gauge attached to a bike pump nozzle!?

 

Actually that sucks rather than blows so wouldn't work would it!
I'll try and borrow one.

 

ok, just modded my vacuum gauge (whch has fuel pressure too) with a schrader fitting off a tyre pump, ill try it tomorrow.

 

Does the van feel like it has lost power too? A clogged CAT could be the issue.

Are any codes being shown when you do the 3X key dance?



.

 

Transmission Fluid? and Igintion Coil how are your plugs?

 

ok, i havent been able to test the fuel pressure,
- i still need to get my hands on the right guage with the schrader fitting.
-transmission fluid is all good and clean.
- i didnt notice any power loss before it started this problem. - no codes at all.

Before starting it today i just pulled all the plugs, they are all new looking but equally dry and black-no deposits, ive cleaned them and reinstalled- no difference. it starts and idle fine form dead cold. put in drive, seems ok, reverse, seems ok, back to park, fine, back to reverse- it bogs then dies. to start it up again i have to put the gas all the way down and coax it back to life as if flooded. if i keep high revs then it seems good.

surely this means its over-fuelling when under load. ?

a friend suggested that since its fine until i put it into drive/reverse then maybe the spark isnt strong enough when under load? but once moving its better-could this be an answer? maybe i could test the coil output? How would i do that?

i wish i had a obd tool.

thanks chaps.

 

It could also mean a weak spark. How old is the ignition coil?

 

not sure, is there a way of testing its output with a voltmeter?