I have a digital multimeter, and I would really appreciate if you had the ability to share the test procedure mainly because I really need to learn more about troubleshooting electrical components.

I'm thrilled about the ammount of information you provide! The location of certain grounds or objects would be a hell to find without your help!

Wiring on my Dodge looks in good shape, but it has been touched by far too many owners in the past so it's a mess. I'm considering using this entire weekend for tracking and cleaning cables + connectors. Or maybe I should just purchase a painless wiring kit and redo everything. Might be worth it...

Going to the garage tonight to go through a few things. Will probably post my findings later. Thank you all again.

 

Do any of these look like your original pick-up coil?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/rafr...&parttype=7176

 

I'll try again later, but I can't access my photobucket account to upload the pic of the procedure. You can PM me with an E mail address if you are in a hurry.

 

might have to view it in another program to read it.

Good luck

 

Thank you all for your input! I need to apologize, I must've had a bad day when I destroyed the rotor and found the hall effect sensor to be malfunctioning. Turns out it was 100% my own fault.

In addition to the rotor that I obviously did not correctly fasten, the hall effect sensor cable connector was not correctly seated. I took it apart, saw my mistake and reconnected it correctly - and the engine would start.

I left it running for 40 minutes without any stalling. I did notice though that the engine was running sliiiightly rough. Kind of sounds like incredibly minor misfiring. Since this was not the case when I started the engine just a few days before I thought it was the hall effect. So I switched back to the old one, but it was still running slightly rough. This means my new hall effect sensor indeed is a functioning replacement but that something has happened to decrease engine performance a little.

I left it on for 30 minutes and kind of hoped for it to die with the old hall effect sensor back, but it didn't. So basically I do not know if I still have stalling problems - I wasn't able to reproduce them yesterday with old or new hall effect.

I have a few questions:

Upon replacing hall effect I found a loose tiny metal ring inside the distributor. Could this have been the reason for the stalling? Possibly flying around and interfering with the rotor or hall effect sensor? That would explain that engine now seems not to be stalling, but it might just be a coincidence and the stalling will continue.

When the rotor was damaged by the distributor cap, is it possible that the cap was damaged creating the very little but noticable rough running? I noticed that the center contact inside the cap seemed to be rugged as opposed to another cap I have where it seems to be quite round?

It might ofcourse be the spark plugs that needs replacement, but the rough running was not evident before the incident with the spark plug and replacement of hall effect, and problem does not go away with old hall effect. Thank you all!

And landyacht, I will be sure to save that picture anyway!

 

Anything loose in the distributor is not good and could certainly cause stalling. please describe this metal ring you found. Did you find this before the rotor destroying incident?

Pics would be better, next to a ruler if you can.

Vans are notorious for frying spark plug wires, and the quality of spark plug wire sets these days is also highly suspect. These can certainly lead to rough running. Make sure none are touching each other or anything grounded.

Replacing the plugs can't hurt either, just blow out all the dust grit and grime before removing plugs so it does not get in the cylinders.

I would not trust the Distributor cap after you damaged the rotor by mis installation.

Excessive idling is not good for the engine. Not enough oil gets splashed on the cam, and the oil might get diluted slightly with unburnt fuel. I got a buddy that lets his engines idle forever, and they always, always have issues that they shouldn't. But he is old and set in his ways and nobody younger can tell him anything. Loves to complain about the price of fuel, and then says idling uses next to no fuel.

 

So, below is a picture of the "metal ring". I don't know the word for it in english since it's not my native language. No ruler available, but it's resting on top of my wallet so you get the idea of the size and what it is.

http://imgur.com/Y0Zpv

I found it before the incident with the rotor. After removal of this, car has not been stalling, but I can't confirm that it's not just a coincidence.

The spark plug wires are completely new. I purchased them for a 400 cui engine, so they are a bit long and do indeed touch eachother - maybe I should replace these for a better match for the 318. I'll also get another rotor, cap and spark plugs. Starting to get expensive, but hey, even though some stuff might not have needed replacement - it can't hurt!

I actually didn't know excessive idling was that bad. I'll avoid it in the future, it's just that stalling is not a nice problem to try to reproduce on the road. :/

Today I'll take the Dodge to a gas station. I'll fill it up completely and add some injection cleaner to the gas. Hopefully this is the end of the stalling - but I'm not convinced.

 

Okay, so basically I was able to drive it from the garage to town and back... Approximately 20 kilometers(12-13 miles) without problem. The engine was still running ever so slightly rough but it did not stall at least. I will continue driving it short distances the next few days - but if problem is solved it is directly related to either the metal ring in the distributor or the hall effect sensor. Sadly the first mentioned is starting to make more sense to me. What do you think, could this tiny ring have caused the random stalling?

I will try to sort out the rough running with new cap, rotor, wires and spark plugs but I cannot afford it at the moment. :/

 

best fuel injector/system cleaners contain poly ether amine.

Techron
redline sl-1
3M
CRC guaranteed to pass
Gumout regane.


Dont waste money on others


good luck

 

I had a huge stalling problem with my 1995 Dodge Ram Van. After a year of trying everything and hiring mechanics I found a solution.

1. Remove air cleaner and all sensors attached to the intake system.

2. Get a tooth brush, rags and a little clean transmission fluid.

3. Gently scrub and wipe away all areas and surfaces to remove old gasoline varnish.

4. Wipe everything clean and reassemble.

I also got an air compressor and blew out dust from every place I would see under the hood and inside the engine compartment. (Note: I attend Burning Man and get a lot of nasty desert dust and dry lakebed salt sticking to the engine.)

Turn on ignition to accessory position and carefully unhook battery cable to reset computer. Leave off for a few minutes and reattach. (WARNING: Risk of electric shock! Don't short it out either.)

This worked for me. Will it work for you? I don't know. Attempt at your own risk. Good luck.