I recently bought a 1989 B250 van with a 5.9 and it won't start. Apparently it was an intermittent issue, they took it to the mechanic, the mechanic couldn't recreate it and since then it won't start.

It was cranking but I wasn't able to get spark. I could hear the fuel pump kick on, has gas, motor turns and sounds decent, but when grounding the spark plug I don't see anything.

After trying to get the fusible links exposed so I could check those, now it won't crank. I loosened the brake booster, so I was working around the ignition switch and am wondering if that may be it?

After having this issue I tried pulling the ECU and warming it up (placed on top of my other cars engine for 8min or so) and reinstalled, that didn't change anything.

-ASD relay has 12V at the red
-Engine and chassis seem well grounded (both at zero or near-zero ohms)

Distributor looks ok, the cap was last replaced 70k ago. Plugs are fairly fouled (white) - plan to replace later.

Based on searching it sounds like the ignition switch or hall effect sensor are worth checking but I can't find how to test those? I also saw to check the ECU pin 19 (?) but I don't have a chart to know what pin that is...

Also any recommendations to threads (or comments) on common issues with these vans, or other reasons it may not be starting, are welcomed! Van has over 200k on it.

Thanks!

 

Um...how about a bad ignition coil?

 

I sorta moved my issue over to here due to the misleading title: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...-no-crank.html

Changed the coil, no change. Though the engine does turn again (ignition related misadjust).

 

A failed ignition coil is unrelated to the starter circuit, why your starter stopped and now started working again is strange. The ignition coil increases the power/voltage delivered at the spark plugs to give you that nice strong blue spark. As Alloro recommend I agree checking your ignition coil and the crank position sensors as both fail often, expecially cheap aftermarket replacements and a plus is access to the coil and crank sensor is not bad.

Interior distributor components could have failed but I would think the van would have began running poorly for days
or weeks before ceasing to run at all.

 

You're right iodj44, turns out the starter not cranking was all my fault. It's happened to me several times now after removing part of the ignition switch to gain access to the brake booster so I could look at the fusible links. I've since managed to get it to crank again.